6-v 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA 


DEP 


^o.^C 


CARPENTER'S  GEOGRAPHICAL  READER 


SOUTH   AMERICA 


BY 

FRANK    G.    CARPENTER 


AMERICAN  ^'XIK  CvO. 

PINE  &  BATTERY 
SAN  FRANCISCO. 


NEW  YORK    :     CINCINNATI    :•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK   COMPANY 


.'V 


'Y 


(V^^ 


Carpenter's  Geographical  Readers 


NORTH  AMERICA  , 
SOUTH  AMERICA  . 
EUROPE        .... 

ASIA 

AUSTRALIA  AND 

ISLANDS    OF  THE  SEA 


60  cents 
60  cents 
70  cents 
60  cents 


(/«  preparation^ 


These  Readers  are  not  dry  compilations  from  other  books,  but 
comprise  vivid  descriptions  of  the  author's  personal  observations. 


Copyright,  1899,  by 
Frank  G.  Carpenter. 

Carp.  S.  ^m. 


EDUCAT<OH  f')eFir- 


PREFACE, 


In  this  book  the  children  are  taken  by  the  author  upon 
a  personally  conducted  tour  through  the  most  character- 
istic parts  of  the  South  American  continent.  Leaving 
New  York,  they  sail  through  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  Carib- 
bean Sea  to  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  Here  they  cross 
over  to  the  Pacific,  and  travel  along  the  west  coast,  visiting 
all  the  different  countries  and  learning  about  their  civili- 
zation and  industries. 

They  climb  the  Andes;  they  explore  the  highlands  of 
Ecuador,  Peru,  and  Bolivia,  and  steam  over  Lake  Titicaca. 
They  travel  extensively  upon  the  great  coast  desert,  visit 
the  wheat  and  fruit  lands  of  Chile,  and  then  make  their  way 
about  through  the  Strait  of  Magellan  into  the  Atlantic. 

They  go  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  through  Patagonia, 
into  the  pastures  and  pampas  of  Argentina,  and  sail  on  the 
Parana  and  Paraguay  rivers  for  thousands  of  miles  into 
the  heart  of  the  continent. 

Returning  through  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  they  make  their 
way  along  the  coast  of  Brazil  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ama- 
zon. They  explore  the  wilds  of  the  great  Amazon  valley, 
and  then  go  on  into  Venezuela  to  the  Orinoco  river,  down 
which  they  sail  into  the  Atlantic,  and  close  their  tour  with 
travels  in  Dutch,  French,  and  English  Guiana. 

Among  the  striking  features  of  the  book  are  the  pic- 

54  !  r)90 


6  PREFACE. 

tures  of  life  and  work  among  the  people  of  the  various 
countries.  The  children  take  journeys  through  the  cities  ; 
they  see  life  in  the  villages,  and  spend  days  upon  the  farms, 
in  the  factories,  and  in  the  mines,  seeing  all  phases  of  life 
among  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  savage  and  the  civilized. 

The  great  industries  of  South  America  have  received 
especial  attention.  In  the  Andes  the  young  readers  go 
down  into  the  mines  and  see  how  gold,  silver,  and  tin  are 
extracted  from  the  earth.  They  explore  the  nitrate  fields 
on  the  coast,  see  the  great  borax  lakes  of  Bolivia,  exam- 
ine the  guano  islands,  and  are  carried  out  under  the  ocean 
into  the  subterranean  coal  mines  of  southern  Chile. 

They  learn  about  sheep  raising  during  their  travels  in 
Tierra  del  Fuego  and  Patagonia,  and  upon  the  pampas  of 
Argentina  they  visit  the  greatest  stock  ranches  of  the  world. 
They  travel  through  the  coffee  plantations  of  Brazil,  and 
spend  some  time  in  the  rubber  camps  of  the  Amazon  and 
in  the  cacao  orchards  of  Venezuela  and  Ecuador. 

They  learn  much  of  the  curious  animals  of  the  different 
zones,  and  see  the  wonders  of  nature  in  the  flowers  and 
trees  of  the  tropics. 

The  travels  are  in  the  shape  of  an  imaginary  tour  made 
by  the  children  themselves,  with  the  author  as  a  guide. 
The  book  will,  it  is  believed,  aid  in  putting  flesh  and 
blood  on  the  bones  of  the  geographies,  and  will  give  a 
living  interest  to  geographical  study. 

The  book  has  the  merit  of  being  written  from  original 
sources  of  information.  It  comprises  the  observations 
of  the  author  gathered  in  a  trip  of  more  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  miles  along  the  routes  herein  described. 
Most  of  the  descriptions  were  written  on  the  ground, 
and  a  very  large  number  of  the  photographs  were  made 
by  the  author  especially  for  this  book. 


CONTENTS, 


♦•» 

PAGB 

I.     From  New  York  to  Panama 9 

II.  The  Isthmus  of  Panama      .......  l6 

III.  Across  Panama  to  the  Pacific 24 

IV.  The  Republic  of  Colombia  .......  29 

V.     The  Land  of  the  Equator 38 

VI.     The  Great  South  American  Desert 50 

VII.     In  Lima,  the  Capital  of  Peru 58 

VIIL     Up  the  Andes .         .67 

IX.     On  the  Roof  of  South  America .  72 

X.     Steamboating  above  the  Clouds 81 

XI.  Travels  in  Bolivia       ........  87 

XII.     The  Mineral  Wealth  of  the  Andes 95 

XIII.  On  the  Nitrate  Desert  and  the  Guano  Islands      .         .         .  100 

XIV.     Along  the  Coast  to  Valparaiso 108 

XV.     Across  South  America  by  Rail 115 

XVI.     Santiago,  the  Capital  of  Chile 1 23 

XVII.     A  Visit  to  a  Chilean  Farm  . 130 

XVIII.     Southern  Chile  and  the  Araucanians 137 

XIX.     In  the  Coal  Mines  of  Chile .144 

XX.     In  and  about  the  Strait  of  Magellan 151 

XXL     At  the  End  of  the  Continent 159 

XXII.     In  Argentina— Patagonia 167 

XXIII.     In  Argentina— Life  on  the  Pampas 174 

XXIV.  In  the  Great  Fruit  and  Bread  Lands  of  South  America        .  182 

7 


8 


CONTENTS. 


PMSM 

XXV.     In  Buenos  Aires 192 

XXVI.  Uruguay— In  Montevideo,  the  Paris  of  South  America  .     201 

XXVII.  Up  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  System       .....     208 

XXVIII.     In  Paraguay .         .218 

XXIX.  Paraguay — A  Trip  into  the  Interior        ....     226 

XXX.  Paraguay  — A  Curious  Tea— The  Chaco  and  its  Indians  .     233 

XXXI.  In  Brazil— The  Wilds  of  Matto  Grosso           .         .         .243 

XXXII.  Southern  Brazil     ........     249 

XXXIII.     In  the  Land  of  Coffee 257 

XXXIV.     Rio  de  Janeiro 267 

XXXV.     More  about  Rio 274 

XXXVI.  Bahia  and  the  Diamond  Mines       .         .         .         .         .283 

XXXVII.  Along  the  Coast  of  Brazil      .         .         .         .         .         .291 

XXXVIII.     The  Valley  of  the  Amazon 299 

XXXIX.  Para,  the  Metropolis  of  the  Amazon       .         .         .         .     305 

XL.     In  the  Land  of  Rubber 312 

XLI.     A  Trip  on  the  Amazon 320 

XLII.     On  the  Orinoco  and  the  Llanos 327 

XLI  1 1.     Venezuela  and  its  Capital 334 

XLIV.     In  the  Guianas -     342 

Index •        •     3S^ 


LIST   OF   MAPS. 


South  America 

. 

Frontispiece 

Isthmus  of  Panama   . 

18 

Colombia  . 

. 

.       30 

Peru  and  Bolivia 

.      73 

Tierra  del  Fuego 

.     158 

Argentina  and  Chile 

„ 

202 

Brazil 

. 

.     242 

Venezuela  and  Guiana 

•         « 

»     .   •         •         * 

>    343 

TRAVELS  THROUGH 

SOUTH    AMERICA. 


3><K< 


I.     FROM    NEW   YORK   TO    PANAMA. 

IT  is  a  great  undertaking  to  explore  a  whole  continent,  but 
that  is  what  I  shall  ask  the  boys  and  girls  to  do  with 
me  in  this  book.  We  shall  travel  together  over  all  South 
America,  to  learn  what  kind  of  a  country  it  is  and  what  it 
has  in  it,  and  to  see  for  ourselves  just  what  is  going  on  in 
every  part  of  it. 

We  shall  first  sail  from  New  York  to  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  and  crossing  that  narrow  neck  of  land,  go  through 
the  Pacific  Ocean  along  the  west  coast  to  the  .Strait  of 
Magellan,  stopping  here  and  there,  and  making  many  trips 
far  into  the  interior.  We  shall  go  through  the  strait  about 
the  southern  end  of  Patagonia,  and  then  travel  along  the 
east  coast  of  the  continent  through  the  Atlantic  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Amazon,  journeying  thousands  of  miles  in- 
ward at  different  points,  and  exploring  all  the  great  rivers. 
From  far  up  the  Amazon  we  shall  go  north  through  the 
wilds  into  the  lands  along  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and  thence 
take  ship  for  New  York. 

9 


ID 


aVTLANTIC    OCEAN. 


This  will  be  a  very  long  journey.  South  America  is  so 
large  that  we  must  travel  much  farther  than  the  distance 
around  the  world  if  we  would  visit  only  its  principal  parts. 
It  is  a  difficult  trip.  Much  of  it  will  be  in  the  Andes 
Mountains,  which  are  among  the  highest  on  earth,  and  in 
Argentina  we  shall  travel  over  plains  and  pastures  where 
for  thousands  of  miles  we  shall  not  see  a  hill. 

We  shall  find  all  kinds  of  animals  and,  I  might  almost 
say,  all  kinds  of  men.  There  are  curious  Indians  here  and 
there  over  South  America ;  there  are  mixed  races  in  most 
of  the  states;  and  there  are  numerous  negroes,  as  well  as 
several  varieties  of  the  Caucasian  race.  Many  of  the  peo- 
ple have  odd  customs,  and  we  shall  find  everything  strange. 

But  our  steamer,  the  Allianga,  for  the  Isthmus  of  Pana- 
ma, is  lying  at  its  wharf  in  New  York,  ready  to  start.     I 


Our  steamer  is  ready  to  start.' 


VOYAGE   TO    PANAMA.  II 

wonder  if  we  are  well  prepared  for  the  journey.  Let  us 
look  carefully  over  our  baggage  and  see.  It  will  be  hard 
to  buy  things  in  some  of  the  countries,  for  we  must  remem- 
ber that  but  few  South  American  cities  have  so  good 
stores  as  we  have. 

It  is  now  winter.  It  is  so  cold  in  New  York  that  we 
dare  not  go  out  on  the  street  without  heavy  clothing.  We 
shall  be  in  the  land  of  perpetual  summer  when  we  step 
from  the  steamer  upon  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  our 
overcoats  and  flannels  will  seem  very  hot  on  the  equator. 
And  still  we  cannot  throw  them  away,  for  we  shall  need 
them  in  cold  Patagonia  and  while  we  are  climbing  the 
snowy  peaks  of  the  Andes.  No ;  our  first  business  is  to 
lay  in  a  good  stock  of  all  kinds  of  clothing. 

Another  thing  which  each  of  us  needs  is  a  good  saddle 
and  bridle.  Many  of  the  journeys  will  be  on  donkeys  and 
mules,  and  the  saddles  sold  in  South  America  are  very 
uncomfortable.  I  think  the  boys  should  take  guns,  for  we 
may  have  shots  at  alligators  and  jaguars,  at  tapirs,  and 
perhaps  at  peccaries  or  wild  hogs. 

We  also  need  cameras  and  photographic  supplies  to 
bring  back  records  of  the  things  we  see,  in  order  to  prove 
that  the  stories  we  tell  are  founded  on  truth. 

But  stop  a  moment.  I  wonder  if  we  all  have  our  pass- 
ports. There  are  often  revolutions  in  South  America, 
and  during  such  it  is  not  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to 
keep  one's  head  on  one's  shoulders  or  to  keep  out  of  prison. 
We  must  be  able  to  prove  that  we  are  Americans,  so  that 
we  can  claim  the  protection  and  rights  that  our  citizens 
have  all  over  the  world. 

Passports  are  furnished  for  this  purpose  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  at  Washington.  Each  passport  is  a  piece  of 
white  paper  about  as  large  as  a  sheet  of  foolscap,  certifying 


^^2li^l«te^-;i^ 


I 


A.A^^.^..//.L 


//,v//////^// 


'-A 


„/  /„ru,/ ,/w/  /A, 


7rHi^^A'^|,    C/^..^..?.^ 


12 


A  Passport. 


VOYAGE   TO    PANAMA.  1 3 

that  its  owner  is  an  American  citizen.  It  has  the  coat  of 
arms  of  the  United  States  at  the  top,  and  at  the  bottom 
the  big  red  seal  of  the  State  Department  at  Washington. 
Between  the  two  there  is  a  description  of  the  person  to 
whom  the  passport  is  given.  It  tells  just  how  tall  he  is, 
the  color  of  his  eyes,  hair,  and  face,  whether  his  nose,  chin, 
and  mouth  are  big  or  little,  and  just  how  old  he  was  when 
the  passport  was  issued.  It  also  bears  his  signature.  The 
paper  is  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  it  requests 
all  people  to  permit  the  bearer,  who  is  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  safely  and  freely  to  pass,  and  in  case  of 
need  to  give  him  all  lawful  aid  and  protection. 

We  find  our  passports  all  right,  and  are  counting  over 
our  baggage  when  we  are  warned  that  it  is  time  to  be  off. 
The  ship  has  already  finished  loading  its  cargo,  and  we 
make  our  way  in  and  out  among  the  men  who  are  wheel- 
ing on  board  the  bags  containing  the  South  American 
mails. 

A  moment  later  the  bell  rings  to  notify  all  who  are 
not  going  with  us  to  leave.  There  are  farewell  kisses  and 
hurried  good-bys.  The  engines  begin  to  throb,  and  as  we 
wave  our  handkerchiefs  to  our  friends  on  the  wharf  our 
boat  moves  slowly  out  into  the  East  river  and  down  by 
Staten  Island  through  the  harbor  of  New  York. 

Within  a  short  time  the  city  has  passed  out  of  view,  and 
as  evening  falls  we  stand  at  the  stern  of  the  steamer  and 
watch  the  lights  of  Sandy  Hook  fade  away  into  the  dark- 
ness, realizing  that  we  shall  not  see  our  native  land  for 
many  months  to  come. 

It  is  about  two  thousand  miles  from  New  York  to  Colon', 
on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama;  but  our  ship  does  not  go  so 
fast  as  the  big  steamers  of  the  Atlantic,  and  it  takes  a  full 
week  for  our  voyage.. 


u 


ATLANTIC  OCEAN. 


The  first  day  out  is  cold  and  bracing,  and  we  spend 
the  time  in  learning  our  steamer.  It  is  a  ship  of  three 
thousand  tons,  about  fifty  feet  wide  and  three  hundred 
feet  long.      It  flies  the  American  flag.     The  sailors  are 

from  difi"erent  parts  of  New 
England,  and  our  captain  is  a 
Yankee  from  Maine.  At  high 
noon  every  day  he  makes  an 
observation,  telling  by  the  sun 
just  where  we  are,  and  a  little 
later  on  we  all  rush  to  the  cabin 
to  learn  how  many  miles  we 
have  gone  in  the  twenty-four 
hours. 

At  the  close  of  the  second 
day  the  air  becomes  warm.  We 
are  crossing  the  Gulf  Stream, 
that  mighty  river  of  the  Atlan- 
ticwhich  is  three  thousand  times 
as  great  as  the  Mississippi  in 
volume.  The  water  is  now 
warmer  than  that  of  the  ocean  through  which  it  is  flow- 
ing. It  warms  the  air  like  a  furnace,  and  we  can  feel  the 
diff"erence  as  we  pass  out  of  it  and  travel  along  its  eastern 
edge  toward  the  Caribbean  Sea. 

But  why  do  we  not  keep  in  the  stream  and  be  warm  all 
the  way? 

You  will  easily  see  when  you  remember  how  hard  it  is 
to  pull  a  boat  against  a  strong  current.  The  Gulf  Stream 
flows  northward  at  the  rate  of  three  miles  an  hour,  and  we 
are  going  as  fast  as  we  can  to  the  south.  If  we  should 
keep  in  the  stream  we  should  have  to  steam  against  a  three- 
mile  current,  and  we  should  lose  at  least  three  miles  an  hour. 


"  At  high  noon  he  makes  an 
observation." 


VOYAGE   TO   PANAMA.  15 

We  find  the  weather  much  colder  outside  the  stream. 
It  is  not  long  before  it  grows  warmer,  however,  for  we  are 
sailing  southward  and  shall  soon  be  in  the  Caribbean  Sea. 
It  is  already  so  pleasant  that  we  can  leave  off  our  over- 
coats, and  we  walk  the  deck,  scanning  the  wide  expanse  of 
blue  water  on  all  sides. 

But  what  is  that  away  off  to  our  right?  It  is  little 
more  than  a  blue  speck  in  the  distance. 

That  is  one  of  the  most  famous  islands  in  the  world. 
It  is  San  Salvador,  upon  which  Columbus  landed  when  he 
first  discovered  America.  The  sight  that  greets  our  eyes 
is  the  same  that  greeted  his  more  than  four  hundred  years 
ago.  When  he  first  stood  upon  San  Salvador  he  thought 
it  an  island  off  the  coast  of  Asia,  and  did  not  realize  that 
he  had  discovered  a  new  world.  San  Salvador  is  one  of 
the  most  fertile  of  the  Bahamas.  It  produces  fruits, 
grain,  and  roots  in  great  abundance,  and  it  is  as  rich  to- 
day as  it  was  when  Columbus  landed  upon  it. 

A  little  farther  south  we  see  a  white  lighthouse  stand- 
ing among  a  grove  of  palm  trees,  and  the  captain  tells  us 
we  are  looking  at  Bird  Rock  Island,  another  of  the  Baha- 
mas ;  and  still  farther  south  the  bleak  and  rocky  coasts  of 
eastern  Cuba  come  into  view,  with  the  purple  mountains  of 
Haiti  in  plain  sight  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  ship.  We 
sail  between  these  two  islands  for  hours,  and  then  go  out 
over  the  blue  waters  of  the  Caribbean. 

The  sea  is  now  like  glass.  The  sun  is  quite  hot  at  noon, 
but  during  the  rest  of  the  day  the  air  is  soft,  warm,  and 
pleasant.  It  is  like  a  June  day  in  Ohio.  We  put  on  our 
thin  linen  clothes  and  enjoy  our  voyage  over  the  tropical 
seas. 

We  sail  for  two  days  with  no  land  in  sight.  There  are 
few  ships,  and  the  only  moving  things  upon  the  waters  are 


l6  COLOMBIA. 

the  gulls  which  hover  about  us  and  the  schools  of  flying 
fish  which  dart  from  wave  to  wave,  one  now  and  then 
jumping  too  high  and  lighting  on  our  deck  in  its  flight. 

But  listen.  The  captain  calls  out  that  we  are  approach- 
ing the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  We  are  coming  near  to  that 
wonderful  strip  of  earth  and  rock  which  ties  North  and 
South  America  together. 

We  rush  to  the  prow  of  the  ship  and  look  toward  the 
west.  At  last  a  thin,  hazy  line  of  blue  floats  up  out  of  the 
waters  at  the  horizon.  Now  the  blue  deepens.  It  rises 
up  in  the  form  of  low  mountains,  while  little  green  islands 
bob  out  of  the  sea  in  front  of  our  ship. 

Now  we  are  still  closer.  See,  there  is  a  low  city  along 
the  shore.  It  is  surrounded  by  green  trees  and  plants, 
and  rising  out  of  it  and  over  it  are  tall  palm  trees  with 
fanlike  leaves  moving  to  and  fro  in  the  breeze.  That  town 
is  Colon,  the  city  at  the  northern  end  of  the  Panama  Rail- 
road, where  we  are  to  land,  and  those  trees  are  real  cocoa- 
nut  palms,  which  seem  to  be  waving  to  us  a  welcome  to  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama. 

II.     THE    ISTHMUS    OF    PANAMA. 

WE  shall  cross  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  on  a  railroad  in 
a  very  few  hours.  The  first  white  man  who  went 
over  took  twenty-nine  days,  and  his  journey  made  him 
famous  for  all  time  as  one  of  the  world's  great  discoverers. 
It  was  only  a  few  years  after  Columbus  discovered 
America.  Then  no  one  knew  that  this  land  was  an  isth- 
mus. Most  people  supposed  it  to  be  a  part  of  Asia. 
Expeditions  were  being  made  to  learn  just  what  the  land 
contained,  and  among  the  explorers  was  a  young  Spaniard 


ISTHMUS   OF   PANAMA.  1 7 

named  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  who  came  with  a  party 
to  the  Gulf  of  Darien,  not  far  south  of  Colon.  Here  he 
founded  a  settlement  and  went  out  among  the  Indians 
trading  for  gold. 

One  day  when  he  was  weighing  some  gold  which  he 
was  about  to  buy,  a  young  Indian  chief  struck  the  scales 
with  his  fist,  scattering  the  precious  metal  upon  the  ground, 
and  said : 

"  If  this  is  what  you  prize  so  much  that  you  are  ready 
to  leave  home  and  risk  your  lives  for  it,  I  can  tell  you  of 
a  land  where  gold  is  as  cheap  as  iron — where  it  is  so  com- 
mon that  the  people  eat  and  drink  out  of  vessels  made 
of  it." 

What  the  Indian  said  was  true.  He  spoke  of  Peru,  a 
country  which  was  then  rich  in  gold,  and  in  which  we 
shall  travel  by  and  by. 

His  saying  excited  Balboa,  and  he  questioned  the  chief, 
who  told  him  that  the  land  of  gold  lay  to  the  southward 
over  the  mountains,  where  there  was  a  sea  so  great  that  no 
one  had  ever  come  to  its  end. 

Balboa  then  decided  to  find  out  if  this  story  were  true, 
and  on  September  i,  15 13,  he  started.  It  took  him  eleven 
days  to  cut  his  way  through  the  thick  forest  to  the  top 
of  the  mountains,  and  then  on  the  25th  of  September, 
15 13,  he  saw  a  great  sea  to  the  south,  which  he  called  the 
South  Sea,  but  which  we  call  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Four 
days  later  he  climbed  down  the  south  slope,  and  with  sword 
in  hand  rushed  into  the  waters  up  to  his  waist,  and  claimed 
the  great  sea  and  all  it  contained  for  the  King  of  Spain. 

The  Isthmus  of  Panama  is  not  large.  The  neck  of  an 
hourglass  is  not  so  narrow  in  comparison  with  the  globes 
which  it  joins  as  this  little  neck  of  land  with  the  conti- 
nents of  North  and  South  America  above  and  below  it. 


i8 


COLOMBIA. 


At  its  narrowest  part,  if  it  were  level,  we  could  walk  across 
it  in  a  day,  while  to  cross  North  America  from  New  York 
to  San  Francisco  requires  six  days  and  nights  on  a  fast 
railroad  train,  and  in  South  America  to  make  our  way 
from  the  Atlantic  up  the  Amazon  as  far  as  we  could  go, 
and  thence  to  the  Pacific  by  land,  would  take  more  than 
two  months. 

Yes,  the  isthmus  is  very  narrow,  but  it  forms  a  great 
wall  against  the  commerce  of  the  world.      See  those  boxes 

and  bales  of  goods 
which  are  being  tak- 
en out  of  the  hold 
ofoursteamer.  Men 
are  putting  them  on 
the  cars  which  will 
carry  them  across  to 
the  city  of  Panama, 
on  the  Pacific.  There 
they  will  again  be 
loaded  upon  ships 
going  north  to  San 
Francisco  or  south 
to  Ecuador,  Peru, 
and  Chile.  Those 
men  who  are  work- 
ing must  be  paid, 
and  the  railroad 
charges  high  prices 
for  'freight.  Indeed, 
the  transfer  of  goods  across  the  isthmus  costs  so  much  that 
it  is  often  cheaper  to  send  them  from  New  York  to  San 
Francisco  on  ships  clear  around  South  America,  although 
the  distance  is  eight  thousand  miles  greater. 


C#0^cA^iVr 


ISTHMUS    OF    PANAMA.  I9 

What  a  fine  thing  it  would  be  if  we  had  a  canal  cut 
across  the  isthmus  wide  enough  for  the  biggest  ships  to 
sail  through!  Then  our  Pacific  coast,  Hawaii,  and  the 
Philippines  would  be  thousands  of  miles  nearer  by  ship  to 
our  Atlantic  coast;  and  Europe  and  Asia,  so  far  as  com- 
merce is  concerned,  would  be  much  closer  together. 

Such  canals  have  been  planned  ever  since  Balboa 
showed  that  the  two  great  oceans  at  this  place  are  so  close 
to  each  other.  There  are  now  two  great  undertakings 
planned  to  cut  through  the  land  from  one  ocean  to  the 
other.  One  is  the  Nicaragua  Canal  across  Central  America 
by  way  of  the  large  Lake  of  Nicaragua  and  the  river  San 
Juan,  and  the  other  is  the  Panama  Canal  which  is  being 
dug  through  the  mountains  from  Colon,  where  we  now  are, 
to  the  Bay  of  Panama,  on  the  Pacific. 

We  shall  see  much  of  the  Panama  Canal  as  we  cross  on 
the  railroad.  Vast  sums  have  been  spent  upon  it,  but  it 
is  still  far  from  completion.  We  shall  see  what  a  great 
job  it  is  to  cut  through  the  land,  although  at  this  point  the 
isthmus  is  so  narrow  that  one  of  our  fastest  trains  might 
cross  from  ocean  to  ocean  in  an  hour. 

The  chief  obstacle  is  the  series  of  great  mountain  chains 
which  runs  north  and  south  along  the  west  side  of  our 
continent  from  Alaska  to  the  Strait  of  Magellan.  We 
knew  of  it  in  the  Rockies  and  the  Andes.  It  exists  also 
at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  although  it  sinks  so  low  at  this 
place  that  the  greatest  peaks  are  not  half  a  mile  high. 
Indeed,  the  pass  through  which  the  canal  is  to  go  is  only 
two  and  one  half  times  as  high  as  the  Washington  Monu- 
ment. Still,  the  mountains  are  masses  of  rock,  and  it  takes 
a  long  time,  by  blasting  and  drilling  and  dredging,  to  cut 
them  down  so  as  to  make  a  ditch  wide  enough  and  deep 
enough  for  ships  to  pass  through. 

CARP.   S.  AM,— 2 


20 


COLOMBIA. 


Another  difficulty  in  making  the  canal  is  in  the  great 
rains.  The  isthmus  is  one  of  the  rainiest  parts  of  the 
world,  and  during  some  of  the  year  the  streams  and  rivers 
flowing  down  the  mountains  become  raging  torrents.  The 
Cha'gres  river,  which  crosses  the  line  of  the  canal,  some- 
times rises  in  one  rainy  night  as  high  as  a  four-story  house, 
so  that  it  will  take  a  great  dam  to  hold  back  its  waters. 
Indeed,  it  will  cost  so  much  to  make  the  canal  that  many 
people  wonder  if  it  will  be  completed. 

But  we  have  some  time  yet  before  the  train  starts,  and 
we  can  take  a  run  through  Colon.  We  cross  the  track 
of  the  Panama  Railroad,  which  runs  through  the  town,  and 
visit  the  entrance  to  the  canal,  where  we  see  great  dredges 
and  numerous  small  boats.  The  dredges  are  idle  and 
covered  with  rust.      There  is  a  vast  amount  of  machinery 


The  dredges  are  idle." 


ISTHMUS    OF   PANAMA. 


21 


going  to  ruin,  for  the  work  in  this  part  of  the  'canal  has 
been  given  up  for  the  time. 

We  learn  that  Colon  was  largely  made  by  the  canal  peo- 
ple, and  that  the  most  of  the  men  we  see  on  the  streets 
came  here  to  work  upon  it.  Among  them  are  negroes 
from  Jamaica  who  address  us  in  EngHsh,  and  brown-faced 
Colombians  who  speak  nothing  but  Spanish.  The  Co- 
lombians are  the  descendants  of  the  Spaniards  who  came 
here  centuries  ago.  Some  of  them  are  pure  whites,  and 
others  are  of  the  mixed  race  of  Spaniards  and  Indians. 

Colon  has  also  a  sprinkhng  of  French,  Americans,  and 
English.  It  has  many  Chinese,  the  first  of  whom  were 
brought  here  by  the  thousands  years  ago  to  work  on  the 


r 

,^.*_ 

m 

f'"'^"   

D ' 

# 

fm^ 

Front  Street,  Colon. 


railroad.    They  did  not  get  along  well,  and  so  many  of  them 
died  that  one  of  the  stations  on  the  railroad  is  called  Mata- 
chin',  which,  freely  translated,  means  "dead  Chinamen." 
What  a  queer  town  Colon  is!      We  say  this  again  and 


22 


COLOMBIA. 


again  as  we  walk  through  its  streets.  Many  of  the  houses 
are  empty,  and  nearly  all  are  going  to  ruin.  When  the 
canal  was  started,  thousands  of  people  were  employed 
upon  it,  and  it  was  thought  that  Colon  would  be  a  great 
city.  The  finest  part  of  it  was  made  for  the  officers  of  the 
canal,  and  was  called,  after  Columbus,  the  town  of  Chris- 
tophe  Colomb. 

We  take  carriages  and  drive  through  this  section.  Its 
wide  streets  are  lined  with  cocoa  palm  trees,  each  of 
which  has  a  bushel  or  so  of  green  cocoanuts  hanging  close 


"We  take  carriages  and  drive  through  this  section." 

to  its  trunk  where  the  leaves  jut  out.  The  cocoanuts  are 
as  big  as  the  heads  of  the  half-naked  negro  babies  who 
are  playing  under  the  trees,  and  we  think  that  a  commo- 
tion would  arise  if  one  should  drop  down  among  them. 

We  see  more  cocoanut  trees  as  we  drive  through  other 
parts  of  Colon.     They  are  found  almost  everywhere  on 


ISTHMUS   OF   PANAMA.  23 

the  isthmus.  The  most  of  them  are  wild,  but  there  are 
also  cocoanut  plantations  where  we  can  learn  just  how  the 
trees  grow.  They  are  so  easy  to  raise  that  we  almost 
wish  we  could  stop  and  start  a  grove  of  our  own. 

The  cocoanut  trees  are  first  sprouted  by  placing  a  lot 
of  the  nuts  on  top  of  the  ground,  a  few  inches  apart. 
After  a  while  each  nut  sends  out  a  sprout  from  one  of  the 
little  eyes  at  its  end.  The  sprout  grows  up  into  the  air, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  root  shoots  out  of  its  base  down 
into  the   ground. 

Within  a  few  months  the  sprout  has  grown  as  high  as 
a  table.  The  sprout  and  nut  are  now  broken  off  from 
the  root  and  set  out  where  the  tree  is  to  stand.  The  nut 
is  buried  about  six  inches  deep  in  the  ground,  the  rest 
of  the  sprout  remaining  above.  The  earth  is  pressed 
tightly  down  about  the  sprout,  and  the  planting  is  done. 

Cocoanut  trees  are  set  out  at  about  the  same  distance 
apart  as  the  trees  of  our  peach  orchards.  They  grow 
rapidly,  and  at  seven  years  begin  to  bear  nuts.  The  fruit 
ripens  all  the  year  round,  and  we  see  blossoms  and  nuts 
on  the  same  tree. 

The  nuts  are  not  picked  from  the  trees,  but  they  drop 
when  they  are  ripe.  The  men  go  daily  from  tree  to  tree 
to  gather  the  nuts.  Each  nut  has  a  thick  green  husk 
upon  it.  This  is  torn  off,  and  the  nuts  then  look  as  we 
see  them  in  our  stores,  and  are  ready  for  shipment. 

Men  are  loading  cocoanuts  on  the  steamer  when  we  get 
back  to  the  wharves.  The  captain  will  take  a  shipload  to 
New  York,  and  tells  us  that  they  will  be  sold  there  by  the 
thousand  for  two  or  three  cents  apiece. 


24 


COLOMBIA. 


III.     ACROSS    PANAMA    TO   THE    PACIFiC. 

OUR  train  for  Panama  is  ready  to  start.  We  buy  our 
tickets  of  an  American  station  agent,  and  later  on  we 
notice  that  the  conductors  and  other  railroad  officials  are 
Americans.  The  Panama  Railroad  was  built  by  Ameri- 
cans shortly  after  gold  was  discovered  in  California.  It 
has  been  very  profitable,  although  it  has  cost  a  great  deal 
of  money  and  thousands  of  fives.  Indeed,  so  many  men 
died  of  fever  while  working  upon  it  that  it  is  said  there 
was  rriDre  than  one  death  for  every  tie  in  the  track. 

The  cars  are  much  like  our  cars  at  home.  Each  seat 
has  its  window,  and  we  have  a  good  view  of  the  country  as 
the  train  whirls  us  along  through  tropical  wonders. 

Now  we  go  by  a  banana  plantation.     See  how  the  wide 


Banana  Peddlers, 


ACROSS   PANAMA. 


25 


green  leaves  of  the  plants  extend  up  from  the  ground 
higher  than  the  head  of  a  man.  They  are  nearly  as  high 
as  the  top  of  the  cars,  and  great  bunches  of  green  bananas 
bend  down  among  them,  almost  touching  the  ground. 

Now  we  pass  orange  trees  loaded  with  fruit,  and  there 
is  a  tree  filled  with  green  and  ripe  lemons.  There  are 
many  forest  trees,  the  names  of  which  we  do  not  know. 
Some  of  the  trees  are  covered  with  orchids,  and  some  are 
masses  of  other  beautiful  flowers.  Among  them  are  fern 
trees,  and  also  bamboos  of  many  varieties,  which  wave 
their  tall,  green,  feathery  branches  in  the  breeze  made  by 
the  train  as  we  pass. 

There  are  twenty  different  varieties  of  palms  on  the 
isthmus,  some  of  which  are  of  wonderful  value.  That 
small,  fat,  bunchy  tree,  with  the  leaves  sticking  out  on  all 
sides,  is  the  ivory  palm.  See  those  prickly  green  balls,  as 
big  as  your  head,  which  grow 
close  to  its  trunk  at  the  top.  In 
those  balls  are  the  nuts  which 
form  the  vegetable  ivory  of  com- 
merce. Each  nut  is  somewhat 
like  a  chestnut,  but  about  five 
times  as  big.  That  train  which 
is  passing  us  now  is  probably 
carrying  thousands  of  ivory  nuts 
to  Colon,  whence  they  will  be 
shipped  to  New  York,  and  there 
made  into  buttons,  combs,  and 
other  such  things. 

But    see,     there    is    another 
strange  palm.      I  mean  that  one 
at  your  left,  with  the  green  shoots  at  the  top.     That  is 
the  cabbage  palm.    Its  head  looks  like  a  cabbage,  and  if  you 


Sago  Palm. 


26 


COLOMBIA. 


should  cook  it  you  would  find  that  it  tastes  much  the  same. 
On  the  hill  farther  back  there  are  palms  which  furnish  the 
sago  we  cook  in  puddings  and  soups,  and  now  and  then 
we  pass  what  the  natives  call  the  wine  palm,  because  from 
its  sap  they  can  make  a  sweet  drink  which  will  intoxicate 
like  wine. 

But  we  are  coming  into  the  mountains.  We  are  slowly 
climbing  the  hills.  There  are  woods  all  about  us.  The 
forests  in  the  distance  look  more  like  the  woodlands  of 
our  country  than  those  of  the  tropics.  The  trees  are 
closer  together,  and  they  are  so  bound  about  with  vines 

that  we  could  not  make  our 
way  through  them  without 
chopping  it  out  with  an  ax. 

We  see  but  few  birds,  as  they 
are  frightened  off  by  the  noise 
of  the  train;  but  a  short  dis- 
tance back  from  the  railroad 
there  are  bright- colored  par- 
rots and  great  scarlet-breasted 
toucans  with  bills  four  inches 
long.  There  are  yellow  birds 
about  as  big  as  a  robin,  which 
whistle  like  mocking  birds,  and 
orioles  whose  beautifully  woven 
nests  hang  down  like  bags  from 
the  trees. 

There  are  also  many  wild 
animals.  See  that  monkey 
which  is  grinning  at  us  out  of  the  branches  of  that  tree  aj 
we  pass.  There  are  monkeys  of  all  sizes  on  the  isthmus, 
as  well  as  ant-eaters,  jaguars,  and  wild  hogs. 

There  are  snakes,  large  and  small,  from  the  poisonous 


Cocoa  Palms  and  Cocoanut. 


ACROSS    PANAMA. 


27 


viper  to  the  great  boa  constrictor.  There  are  plenty  of 
insects.  We  must  be  careful  where  we  walk,  lest  we  step 
on  a  tarantula,  a  scorpion,  or  a  centiped. 

Notice  the  telegraph  poles.  They  are  made  of  iron. 
This  is  because  of  the  ants,  some  of  which  eat  wood. 
These  ants  sometimes  travel  in  armies,  and  they  will  con, 
sume  a  pine  telegraph  pole  in  a  night. 

The  mosquitoes  are  worse  than  ours  of  New  Jersey,  and 
I  warn  you  to  beware  of  a  little  insect  called  the  chigoe, 
or  jigger,  which  attacks  the  bare  toes  just  under  the  nail. 
When  it  bites  you  it  will  not  hurt  more  than  the  prick  of 
a  needle,  and  the  bite  will  make  only  a  little  red  spot  on 
your  toe.  As  it  bites,  however,  it  lays  its  eggs  in  the 
little  hole  it  makes  in  the  flesh.  The  eggs  are  so  small 
that  you  can  hardly  see  them,  but  if  you  do  not  soon  dig 
them  out  with  a  needle  they  will  hatch  into  worms,  which 
will  cause  you 
great  pain  and 
probably  the 
loss  of  your 
toe. 

The  isthmus 
has  many  vari- 
eties of  lizards. 
We  see  them 
crawling  out 
from  under  the  Iguana  Lizard. 

ties  on  the  railroad,  and  we  may  have  a  chance  to  eat  them 
when  asked  out  to  dine.  The  flesh  of  one  variety  of  lizard 
is  as  tender  as  a  spring  chicken.  It  is  sold  in  the  Panama 
markets.  This  is  the  iguana  lizard.  It  is  from  three  to  six  feet 
in  length,  and  its  eggs  are  of  the  size  of  a  marble.  The  eggs 
are  yellow  and  shriveled,  but  are  by  no  means  unpalatable. 


28 


COLOMBIA. 


But  here  we  are  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains. 
We  go  quickly  down  to  the  lowlands,  and  end  our  journey 
in  Panama,  with  the  Pacific  Ocean  before  us. 

Panama  has  about  twenty-five  thousand  people.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  cities  of  the  hemisphere.  Its 
houses  are  built  like  those   of  old   Spain,  with  galleries 


.Wharves,  Panama. 


hanging  out,  so  that  we  are  shaded  from  the  sun  as  we 
walk  through  the  streets.  The  streets  go  up  hill  and 
down.  They  wind  in  and  out  around  a  great  bay  which 
is  guarded  from  the  sea  by  green  islands. 

There  are  many  good  stores,  and  several  hotels.  We 
visit  the  wharves  and  see  the  great  business  that  is  done  in 
transferring  goods  from  one  ocean  to  the  other.  We  spend 
some  time  on  the  bay  looking  at  the  ships  which  have 


ACROSS   PANAMA. 


29 


Cathedral,  Panama. 

come  from  different  parts  of  the  world.  They  are  an- 
chored far  out  from  the  shore,  at  the  edge  of  the  islands, 
on  account  of  the  tides,  which  are  here  very  strong.  We 
learn  that  one  is  just  about  to  sail  southward  along  the 
coast  of  Colombia,  and  upon  it  we  take  passage. 


3j<K< 


IV.     THE    REPUBLIC    OF    COLOMBIA. 


WE  are  sailing  southward  this  morning  upon  the 
mighty  Pacific.  Were  it  not  for  the  slight  breeze 
of  the  northeast  trade  winds  it  would  be  stifling,  and  as  it 
is  the  sea  seems  to  steam. 


30 


COLOMBIA. 


Come  with  me  to  the  side  of  the  ship  and  look  out  to 
the  west.  Notice  how  the  blue  waves  stretch  on  and  on 
until  they  lose  themselves  in  the  sky.      We  are  on  the 

greatest  of  the 
oceans.  That  wa- 
ter extends  west- 
ward for  ten  thou- 
sand miles  until  it 
wraps  itself  around 
the  Philippine  Is- 
lands and  washes 
the  east  coast  of 
Asia. 

How  bright  the 
sun   is,   and    how 
dazzling!   It  darts 
its  rays  down,  and 
Colo"^bia-  millions    of    dia- 

monds are  dancing  upon  the  waves  under  our  eyes.  We 
wink  and  blink  as  we  look.  The  reflected  rays  of  the  sun 
are  here  as  bright  as  its  direct  rays  in  July  at  our  homes. 
Come  now  to  the  other  side  of  the  vessel  and  look  at 
the  shadows.  The  water  below  us  is  of  an  indigo  blue, 
which  seems  to  grow  lighter  as  our  eyes  travel  over  it  to 
the  green  hills  of  the  shore. 

What  is  that  cackling  and  crowing  and  quacking  we 
hear?  Can  that  be  the  baa  of  a  lamb?  Was  not  that 
the  moo  of  a  cow  ?  We  rub  our  eyes  to  see  if  we  are  not 
dreaming.  This  voyage  of  ours  must  be  a  mistake,  and 
we  are  surely  back  near  one  of  the  farmyards  in  the 
country  at  home. 

No,  it  is  not  a  mistake.  The  noise  of  the  fowls  comes 
from  those  two-storied  coops  on  the  deck.     Yoa  can  see 


GENERAL   VIEW.  3 1 

the  chickens  and  geese  poking  their  heads  through  the 
slats.  The  bleating  and  mooing  is  from  sheep  and  cattle 
which  are  kept  in  stalls  two  floors  below.  They  are  car- 
ried to  furnish  the  meat  for  our  tables.  It  is  so  warm 
here  on  the  southern  Pacific  that  fresh  meat  will  soon 
spoil. 

What  a  noise  the  creatures  make!  We  are  awakened 
by  them  every  morning,  and  hardly  know  where  we  are 
until  the  cabin  boy  brings  in  our  breakfast.  It  consists  of 
a  small  cup  of  coffee  and  one  or  two  slices  of  bread,  and 
protest  as  we' may,  we  cannot  have  more  until  eleven 
o'clock.  This  is  the  custom  throughout  South  America. 
Between  eleven  and  one  they  have  a  second  breakflast, 
which  is  much  like  our  dinner,  and  their  dinner  is  at  about 
six  in  the  evening.  We  grumble  at  first,  but  soon  find  it 
is  as  pleasant  as  our  way  of  eating  at  home. 

But  here  we  are  sailing  into  one  of  the  ports  of  Colom- 
bia. There  are  palm  trees  and  bamboos  on  the  coast,  and 
the  dense  vegetation  is  much  like  that  of  the  isthmus. 
There  is  a  town  a  little  back  from  the  water.  It  is  com- 
posed of  thatched  huts  and  of  one-story  white  buildings 
covered  with  plaster  and  roofed  with  red  tiles.  There  are 
some  little  saiHng  vessels  at  anchor,  and  many  small  boats 
in  which  dark-skinned  men  are  rowing  out  to  the  steamer. 
We  are  now  in  the  Bay  of  Buenaventura  (boo-a-na-ven- 
too'ra),  and  from  here  we  shall  make  a  long  tour  through 
Colombia. 

The  country  is  so  vast  that  we  cannot  expect  to  visit  it 
all.  Colombia  is  ten  times  as  large  as  the  state  of  New 
York.  It  is  as  long  from  north  to  south  as  the  distance 
from  St.  Paul  to  New  Orleans,  and  its  coast  line  on  the 
Caribbean  Sea  is  longer  than  the  distance  from  New  York 
to  Chicago. 


32  COLOMBIA. 

It  is  a  land  of  mountains  and  plains.  The  Andes  run 
through  it  in  three  high  ranges,  and  between  them  are 
some  of  the  most  fertile  river  valleys  of  all  South  America, 
The  mountains  contain  many  rich  mines  of  silver  and  gold. 
There  are  men  from  all  parts  of  the  world  digging  the 
precious  stuff  out  of  the  hills,  and  there  are  some  places 
in  which  diamonds  are  found  mixed  with  the  gold. 
Colombia  has  produced  more  than  six  hundred  million 
dollars'  worth  of  gold. 

We  make  our  way  over  the  coast  range  of  the  Andes 
from  Buenaventura,  traveling  for  the  first  twenty-five  miles 
upon  a  little  narrow  gauge  railroad,  and  then  taking  mules. 
The  animals  carry  us  on  their  backs  up  one  steep  trail 
after  another,  and  bring  us  at  last  into  a  region  said  to  be 
one  of  the  most  healthful  and  beautiful  on  earth.  This  is 
the  valley  of  the  Cauca  river.  It  is  covered  with  planta- 
tions of  sugar  cane,  coffee,  and  cacao.  There  are  great 
fields  of  bananas  and  large  orange  orchards.     There  are 

many  lemons,  and  we  make  lem- 
onade of  the  fruit  which  we  our- 
selves pull  from  the  trees. 

We  stay  for  a  day  with  a 
farmer  to  see  his  cacao  planta- 
tion. The  cacao  tree  bears  the 
fruit  from  the  seeds  of  which  our 
chocolate  is  made.  The  planter 
has  thousands  of  trees,  and  upon 
our  mules  we  ride  with  him 
^^^^°  through  one  cacao  orchard  after 

another.  How  beautiful  everything  is!  The  trees  look 
like  Ulac  bushes,  except  that  they  are  from  fifteen  to  thirty 
feet  high.  They  are  ragged  and  gnarly.  Their  leaves  are 
of  a  bright  green,  and  the  fruit  is  so  large  that  if  it  lay  on 


GENERAL    VIEW. 


33 


the  ground  you  might  think  it  a  little  squash  or  a  very 
big  ripe  cucumber.  It  is  of  a  bright  lemon  color,  streaked 
with  red.  It  grows  close  to  the  bark  of  the  trunk  and 
branches,  and  not  on  the  ends  of  twigs  like  apples  or  pears. 

At  our  request  the  planter  gives  us.  a  specimen.  We 
chop  it  in  two  with  a  knife.  It  has  a  thick  skin,  and  inside 
this  a  white  pulp  in  which  are  imbedded  about  thirty 
dark-brown  seeds  much  like  large  lima  beans.  From  these 
seeds  are  made  the  chocolate  and  cocoa  of  commerce. 

The  fruit  is  gathered  when  ripe,  and  the  seeds  are 
washed  out  of  the  pulp.  They  are  dried  in  the  sun  and 
shipped  to  factories  in  different  parts  of  the  world.  In 
the  factories  they  are  ground,  and  from  their  meal,  after 
several  processes  which  take  out  some  of  the  oil,  the  pure 
chocolate  is  made.  From  the  seed  hulls,  in  much  the 
same  way,  cocoa  is  made. 

In  another  part  of  the  plantation  we  learn  how  the  trees 


Village  in  Colombia. 


34 


COLOMBIA. 


are  grown.  The  seeds  are  first  planted  in  hills  about 
fifteen  feet  apart,  three  seeds  being  put  in  each  hill.  They 
soon  sprout  up,  and  at  first  look  not  unlike  small  orange 
tfees.  They  are  cultivated,  and  the  weeds  are  kept  down. 
At  three  or  four  years  they  begin  to  produce  fruit,  and 
continue  to  yield  for  thirty  years  and  more. 

We  see  many  cacao  orchards  in  other  parts  of  Colombia, 
and  we  learn  that  raising  this  product  forms  one  of  the 
great  South  American  industries.  We  shall  find  other 
orchards  in  Ecuador  and  in  the  lands  farther  east.  Indeed, 
a  great  deal  of  the  chocolate  which  is  drunk  in  the  United 
States  and  Europe  comes  from  this  part  of  the  world. 

We  are  delighted  with  the  people  of  the  Cauca  valley. 
They  are  noted  for  their  hospitality,  and  are  so  kind  that 


Capitol,  Bogota. 


GENERAL   VIEW. 


35 


their  country  has  been  called  "  The  Land  of  the  Gentle 
Yes,"  because  the  people  hate  to  say  no  to  any  request. 
They  are  largely  composed  of  the  mixed  race  of  Spaniards 
and  Indians.  They  are  very  simple  in  their  tastes,  their 
chief  business  being  farming  and  fruit  raising. 

We  take  boats  and  sail  for  days  down  the  Cauca  river, 
coming  at  last  into  the  Magdalena  river,  where  we  find 
steamers  bound  for  Honda,  the  port  from  which  Bogota^ 
the  capital,  is  reached. 

Honda  is  as  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Magdalena  as 
Pittsburg  is  from  New  York,  but  the  river  extends  south- 
ward many  miles  far- 
ther. It  is  a  vast 
stream  more  than  a 
thousand  miles  long, 
forming  the  great  in- 
ternal highway  of 
Colombia.  We  sail 
through  thelowlands, 
winding  this  way 
and  that  across  the 
stream,  avoiding  the 
sand  bars.     We  pass 

many  river  steamers  loaded  with  freight,  and  cargo  boats 
with  negroes  and  Indians,  who  stand  upon  them  and  push 
them  onward  with  poles  which  they  thrust  down  into  the 
bed  of  the  river. 

Farther  south  the  scenery  grows  grander.  We  are  now 
near  high  mountains,  and  at  Honda,  a  small  river  town, 
where  we  land,  we  take  mules  and  cHmb  for  two  days  up 
the  steep  roads  which  lead  to  the  great  plain  upon  which 
Bogota  is  situated. 

Bogota  is  one  of  the  high  cities  of  the  world.     It  is 


Cargo  Boat. 


36  COLOMBIA. 

almost  nine  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  or  much  higher 
than  Denver  or  Mexico  city.  As  we  rise  we  find  the  air 
cooler.  On  the  Magdalena  the  heat  was  intense,  the  very 
water  was  warm,  and  at  Honda  the  stones  were  almost  too 
hot  to  touch.  At  Bogota  we  are  in  a  temperate  climate, 
fresh  and  cool  in  the  daytime,  but  so  chilly  at  night  that 
when  we  go  outside  the  hotel  we  wear  overcoats. 

We  spend  some  time  in  Bogota,  studying  the  city  and 
people.  It  has  about  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
the  most  of  whom  are  of  the  mixed  Spanish  and  Indian 
race. 

Bogota  is  a  Spanish-built  town.  Nearly  all  the  houses 
are  of  one  story,  close  to  the  street,  with  iron  bars  over 
their  windows.  They  are  painted  in  the  brightest  of 
colors,  and  nearly  all  have  roofs  of  red  tiles. 

The  best  part  of  the  city  is  about  the  Plaza  Bolivar 
(bo-leVar),  a  beautiful  park  with  gardens  of  flowers  and 
tropical  trees.  On  one  side  of  the  plaza  is  the  capitol,  or 
government  building;  and  on  another,  with  arcades  before 
them,  are  stores  containing  goods  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  We  see  many  people  out  shopping.  The  ladies  are 
dressed  in  black,  with  black  shawls  over  their  heads,  but 
the  men  of  the  better  classes  are  dressed  like  our  men  at 
home. 

We  are  surprised  to  find  that  Bogota  has  street  cars, 
public  libraries,  and  schools.  It  has  telephones  and  elec- 
tric lights,  and  it  has  daily  newspapers  printed  in  Spanish. 
In  it  are  the  houses  of  Congress  and  the  homes  and  offices 
of  the  president  and  other  officials  who  govern  the  Repub- 
lic of  Colombia.  There  are  many  soldiers,  and  we  are 
awakened  each  morning  by  the  trumpeters  who  are  calling 
the  troops  out  to  drill. 

The  strangest  things  to  us,  however,  are  the  Indians  and 


GENERAL   VIEW. 


37 


the  donkeys.  The  Indians  dress  in  cotton.  The  men 
have  on  white  shirts'  and  trousers,  and  sometimes  also  a 
poncho,  or  blanket,  which  they  wear  over  their  shoulders, 


Indian  Women. 


sticking  their  heads  through  a  hole  in  the  center.  The 
women  wear  dark  clothes,  and  nearly  all  have  on  straw 
hats  like  those  our  boys  wear  in  the  summer. 

The  donkeys  are  the  beasts  of  burden  of  the  city. 
They  take  the  place  of  carts  and  wagons.  Bread,  vege- 
tables, and  fruit  are  carried  about  from  house  to  house 
upon  them,  and  at  the  market  scores  of  these  little  ani- 
mals stand  and  wait  while  their  masters  sell  the  produce 
they  have  brought  in  from  the  country. 

We  see  more  donkeys  and  Indians  as  we  go  back  to  the 

CARP.  S.  AM.— 3 


38 


ECUADOR. 


seacoast  over  the  mountains.     Our  journey  is  made  upon 
mules,  and  it  takes  a  long  time  for  us  to  climb  the  two 

ranges  of  the  Andes 
between  Bogota  and 
the  Pacific. 

At  last,  however,  we 
reach  Buenaventura, 
and  are  glad  to  be  again 
in  our  cabins,  hearing 
the  throb, throb, throb 
of  the  huge  engine  as 
it  forces  the  vessel 
through  the  ocean. 
We  pass  the  southern 
boundary  of  Colom- 
bia, and  then  coast  for 
a  time  along  northern 
Ecuador.  As  we  cross 
Mat  Makers.  the    equator    the    sun 

grows  hotter  and  hot- 
ter, and  we  feel  almost  roasting  as  we  enter  the  great  Gulf 
of  Guayaquil  (gwi-a-keF)  and  sail  up  the  Guayas  river  to 
Guayaquil,  the  chief  seaport  of  Ecuador. 


3>»^C 


V.     THE    LAND    OF    THE    EQUATOR. 

ECUADOR  means  equator,  and  we  are  now  in  one  of 
the  lands  of  the  equator.  Ecuador  lies  on  both  sides 
of  that  central  line  of  the  earth.  It  is  of  the  shape  of  a 
fan,  whose  handle  extends  almost  to  Brazil,  and  whose 
scalloped  rim  is  fringed  with  the  ocean  spray. 


LAND    OF   THE    EQUATOR.  39 

The  exact  size  of  Ecuador  is  unsettled.  According  to 
the  boundaries  which  the  natives  claim,  it  is  larger  than 
Texas ;  but  if  Peru  and  Colombia  are  allowed  what  they 
assert  belongs  to  them  it  will  be  but  little  larger  than 
Colorado. 

It  is  a  curious  country,  made  up  of  lowlands  and  high- 
lands. The  parts  of  it  along  the  coast  and  near  the  east 
boundary  are  low  and  tropical,  and  the  remainder  is  a 
land  of  the  clouds.  It  comprises  some  of  the  highest  of 
the  Andes,  with  mighty  plateaus  where  the  climate  is 
cool  and  temperate,  and  where  in  some  parts  it  is  perpet- 
ual spring. 

We  are  now  in  the  most  tropical  part  of  the  country. 
Guayaquil  never  needs  a  furnace,  and  heating  stoves  are 
unknown.  Look  at  the  city  as  it  lies  there  on  the  banks 
of  the  river.  There  is  not  a  chimney  rising  above  any  of 
the  houses.  There  is  not  a  stovepipe  in  the  city,  and  the 
weather  is  so  warm  that  most  of  the  buildings  are  made 
without  windows,  mere  holes  in  the  walls  serving  for  Hght 
and  air. 

The  boatmen  who  have  rowed  out  to  the  ship  to  take 
us  on  shore  are  half  naked,  and  as  we  land  at  the  wharf  we 
see  half-naked  babies  playing  about  near  their  mothers, 
who  sit  there  peddling  oranges,  pineapples,  bananas,  and 
all  sorts  of  tropical  fruits. 

How  the  sun  beats  down  upon  us  as  we  stand  in  the 
street,  and  what  a  vile  smell  comes  up  from  the  gutters ! 
Guayaquil  is  very  unhealthful;  it  often  has  yellow  fever; 
and  we  must  be  careful  to  keep  out  of  the  sun.  Let  us 
go  farther  over  into  the  business  part  of  the  city.  Now 
we  are  walking  under  arcades  by  one  great  store  after 
another.  It  is  like  passing  through  a  museum  or  a  bazaar 
of  East  India.     The  stores  are  all  open.     The  front  walls 


40 


ECUADOR. 


Street  Scene,  Guayaquil. 


have  been  folded  back  or  taken  away  for  the  day,  and  the 
goods  are  piled  upon  the  counters  and  stacked  upon  the 
floors. 

What  a  queer  throng  is  this  that  moves  along  in  the 
shade!  There  are  women  dressed  in  black,  with  black 
shawls  over  their  heads.  There  are  Indian  girls  from  the 
interior,  in  bright-colored  gowns  and  straw  hats,  and  there 
are  dark-faced  Indian  peons,  or  workmen,  who  trot  along 
with  great  bags  of  cacao  and  other  things  on  their  backs. 

What  a  lot  of  donkeys  there  are  in  the  street !  There 
is  one  loaded  with  lumber.  Three  long  boards  have  been 
strapped  to  each  of  his  sides,  and  he  clears  the  whole  street 
when  his  master  turns  him  about.    There  is  another  donkey 


LAND   OF   THE   EQUATOR. 


41 


with  two  large  wooden  boxes  slung  over  his  back.  That 
is  the  bread  wagon  of  Guayaquil,  and  that  boy  who  is 
dragging  him  on- 
ward is  probably 
the  son  of  the  baker. 
There  are  other 
donkeys  carrying 
vegetables  in  pan- 
niers, and  we  see 
that  donkeys  and 
mules  here  take  the 
places  of  our  huck- 
ster carts,  carriages, 
and  drays. 

But  what  is  the 
matter    with    that 


"The  bread  wagon  of  Guayaquil." 


donkey's  legs?  He  is  actually  wearing  trousers.  There 
is  also  a  band  of  cotton  cloth  on  the  under  part  of  his 
body.  There  are  other  donkeys  dressed  the  same  way. 
We  ask  why  this  is,  and  are  told  that  the  flies  and  gnats 
are  so  bad  in  Guayaquil  that  the  donkeys  have  to  wear 
waistbands  and  trousers. 

Let  us  take  a  walk  through  the  streets.  They  are  lined 
with  workmen,  who  are  laboring  at  their  trades  on  the 
sidewalks,  and  Indian  women,  who  comb  their  own  and 
their  children's  hair  as  they  wait  for  their  customers. 

We  stop  a  moment  before  a  house  which  is  just  being 
built.  The  carpenters  are  nailing  bamboo  laths  on  the 
framework  of  the  building,  and  spreading  upon  them  a 
thin  coat  of  plaster.  The  part  of  the  house  they  have 
finished  looks  as  though  it  were  made  of  brick  or  stone 
covered  with  stucco,  when  in  fact  it  is  so  thin  that  you 
could  ram  a  hole  through  it  with  a  rail.      See  how  the 


42  ECUADOR. 

beams  and  rafters  are  made  In  sections  and  spliced.  The 
houses  are  so  constructed  on  account  of  the  earth- 
quakes which  are  felt  here  every  few  weeks.  Heavy- 
buildings  will  fall  if  the  earth  shakes  very  much,  but  these 
light  structures  thus  put  together  sway  to  and  fro,  but  do 
not  come  down. 

Guayaquil  is  quite  a  business  center.  It  is  one  of  the 
best  ports  on  the  west  coast  of  South  America.  It  lies 
about  sixty  miles  up  the  Guayas  river,  where  the  stream 
is  a  mile  wide,  and  so  deep  that  it  furnishes  a  safe  harbor 
for  great  ocean  steamers.  The  river  is  filled  with  ship- 
ping, and  there  are  many  dugouts  and  cargo  boats  which 
have  brought  goods  —  cacao,  cane  sugar,  and  ivory  nuts  — 
from  the  interior  of  Ecuador  for  shipment  abroad. 

There  are  also  little  steamers  which  take  us  up  the 
•  Guayas  river  almost  to  the  foot  of  the  Andes.  We  leave 
at  night,  and  awake  to  find  ourselves  floating  in  and  out 
among  houses  built  high  upon  piles  surrounded  by  water. 
It  is  the  rainy  season  of  Ecuador,  and  the  low  coast  lands 
are  flooded.  The  people  of  this  region  are  now  living  in 
the  second  stories  of  their  houses.  We  see  them  going 
from  one  hut  to  another  in  canoes.  There  are  market- 
men  paddhng  about,  and  there  is  a  group  of  children  in 
that  little  boat  being  paddled  to  school. 

The  town  at  which  we  now  are  is  Bodegas  (bo-da'gas). 
It  is  the  head  of  navigation  of  the  Guayas  river.  Only  a 
small  part  of  it  is  on  the  mainland,  and  this  part  is  half 
flooded,  so  that  the  street  crossings  are  bridged  with  logs, 
and  the  people  have  to  hug  the  walls  and  step  upon  blocks 
in  getting  from  one  store  to  another  along  the  side  streets. 

Many  of  the  houses  are  far  out  in  the  river.  The 
smaller  ones  have  only  one  room,  made  of  poles  covered 
with  palm  leaves,  and  reached  by  ladders  from  the  water. 


LAND    OF    THE    EQUATOR. 


43 


r^ 


"  Many  of  the  houses  are  far  out  in  the  river. 


Let  us  take  a  canoe  and  visit  one  of  them.  The  owner 
makes  us  welcome,  and  we  squat  down  on  a  block  on  the 
floor,  sitting  rather  gingerly  upon  it  for  fear  the  floor  may 
break  through  and  drop  us  down  into  the  water.  See,  it 
is  made  of  bamboo  canes.  There  are  so  many  cracks 
that  the  women  do  not  need  to  sweep,  for  the  dirt  falls 
through  into  the  river,  or  to  the  ground  during  the  dry 
season. 

Notice  that  clay  pot  resting  over  the  little  fire  in  that 
box  over  there.  That  is  the  cook  stove  of  the  family. 
These  people  use  charcoal  for  fuel.  They  live  largely 
upon  sweet  potatoes  or  yams,  plantains  or  large  bananas, 
and  a  potatolike  tuber  called  the  yucca.  They  are  fond 
of  rice,  and  eat  a  great  deal  of  beef  dried  in  the  sun. 

Leaving  Bodegas,  we  start  out  for  our  trip  over  the 
Andes.  We  ride  for  miles  in  canoes  through  the  flooded 
lands,  among  the  treetops  of  the  tropical  forest.  Now 
we  pass  alligators,  which  swim  lazily  off  into  the  bushes. 
Now  monkeys  make  faces  at  us  out  of  the  branches,  and 


44  ECUADOR. 

now  a  bright-colored  parrot  shrieks  out  as  we  go  on  our 
way.  We  take  a  shot  now  and  then  at  an  alHgator,  but 
fail  to  hit  the  beast  in  a  vulnerable  spot. 

We  pass  many  Indians  in  canoes  and  flatboats,  carrying 
their  wares  down  to  Bodegas.  We  ride  by  cacao  planta- 
tions, and  finally  shoot  out  of  the  woods  into  the  open, 
with  the  mighty  Andes  rising  above  us. 

Now  we  have  left  the  river  and  are  on  our  mules,  cHmb- 
ing  the  mountains.  The  road  is  so  narrow  in  places  that 
we  have  to  go  single  file,  and  so  steep  now  and  then  that 
we  fear  we  shall  slip  off  behind.  Now  we  ford  a  stream, 
throwing  our  legs  high  on  the  donkey's  neck  to  keep  oiir 
feet  out  of  the  water,  and  now  we  go  along  narrow  ledges, 
shuddering  to  think  how  we  should  be  dashed  to  pieces  if 
the  little  animals  should  slip  in  the  mud.  The  roads  grow 
worse  farther  up,  and  we  heartily  agree  with  the  natives 
of  the  country  who  say  that  their  roads  are  rather  for 
birds  than  for  men. 

As  we  ride  higher  still  the  air  becomes  fresher  and 
colder.  We  are  now  out  of  the  region  of  coffee  and  cacao, 
and  in  one  of  less  luxurious  vegetation.  We  have  left  the 
tropical  forests,  and  at  last  reach  a  point  so  far  above  the 
sea  that  there  are  no  trees  at  all. 

We  shiver  under  the  blankets  in  the  rude  huts  where 
we  stay  overnight,  and  find  our  accommodations  very  un- 
comfortable. Our  beds  are  on  wooden  platforms.  We 
are  tormented  with  insects,  and  at  one  place  the  chickens, 
cats,  and  dogs  run  in  and  out  of  the  rooms  where  we  are 
trying  to  sleep. 

Farther  on  we  come  to  a  plain  higher  up  in  the  air  than 
Pikes  Peak.  It  is  covered  with  sand,  and  the  cold  wind 
almost  blows  us  from  our  mules  as  we  attempt  to  ride  over 
it.     This  is  the  Arenal,  the  pass  of  the  Andes  through 


LAND    OF   THE    EQUATOR. 


45 


Village  in  the  Andes. 


which  we  reach  the  high  central  valley  which  forms  the 
chief  part  of  Ecuador. 

Now  we  have  gone  through  the  pass  and  are  on  our 
way  up  through  the  valley  toward  Quito.  We  are  almost 
two  miles  above  the  sea,  with  some  of  the  highest  of  the 
Andes  about  us.  Over  there  is  Chimborazo,  its  snowy 
peak  kissing  the  clouds  more  than  four  miles  above  Guaya- 
quil; and  on  each  side  of  us,  extending  up  and  down  the 
valley  as  far  as  our  eyes  can  reach,  are  great  mountain 
peaks,  many  of  which  are  three  or  four  miles  in  height. 

The  great  valley  of  Ecuador  extends  through  the  coun- 
try from  north  to  south,  with  these  mighty  mountains  on 
each  side  of  it.  Some  of  the  mountains  are  active  volca- 
We  see  the  vapor  rising  from  them  as  we  ride 


noes. 


onward.     There  are  frequent  earthquakes  in  this  region, 
and  the  houses  are  built  to  withstand  them. 


46 


ECUADOR. 


The  high  valley  of  Ecuador  is  a  rich  farming  region. 
We   ride  through   fields  of  potatoes,  barley,  and  wheat, 

passing  orchards  and  gar- 
dens, and  green  clover 
fields  in  which  cattle  are 
feeding.  We  go  from 
one  small  town  to  an- 
other until  we  come  to 
the  httle  city  of  Ambato, 
where  we  get  the  stage 
for  Quito.  In  this  we 
go  on  the  gallop  all  day 
long,  changing  our  mules 
now  and  then,  until  at 
last  we  reach  the  capital 
of  Ecuador. 

We    are    now   in    the 

highest    capital    city    of 

the     world.       Quito     is 

more  than  a  thousand 

feet  higher  than  Mount 

Saint      Bernard,      the 

highest  point  in  Europe 

upon  which  men  can  live 

throughout    the    whole 

year,  and  the  place  where 

the  famous  Saint  Bernard 

dogs  are  kept  to  hunt  for 

men  lost  in  the  snow. 

On  Saint  Bernard  there  is  often  ice  all  the  year  round. 

We  find  no  ice  at  Quito.     The  air  is  as  warm  as  that  of 

May  in  our  northern  States,  and  the  people  tell  us  that 

their  climate  is  perpetual  spring.    The  great  height  so  tem- 


'? 


/ 


X 


Climbing  the  Andes. 


LAND    OF   THE    EQUATOR. 


47 


^  ^ 
^^^ 

^ 

^^^S' 

9 

^^^■■{■lUl 

gMjigllJHH 

^m|w«^ 

M^^tf 

I^HH 

^^ 

l^^^^l 

1^1 

^^H 

^^^^^^^^^^^^T'  \|;    H.    Wi 

1 

1 

Chimborazo. 


pers  the  heat  rays  of  the  sun  as  to  make  them  just  right, 
although  the  city  is  almost  on  the  equator.  We  enjoy 
the  clear  sky  and  the  fresh  air  from  the  great  mountains 
about,  and  learn  to  prepare  for  the  showers  which  come 
regularly  during  about  two  hours  every  afternoon. 

Quito  is  an  odd  city.  It  has  fifty  thousand  people. 
The  streets  are  laid  out  at  right  angles.  They  are  so  nar- 
row that  there  is  room  for  little  more  than  foot  passen- 
gers. Most  of  the  people  walk  or  ride  on  mules  and 
horses,  and  almost  all  carrying  of  goods  through  the  city 
is  upon  donkeys  or  mules. 

The  houses  of  Quito  are  of  one  or  two  stories,  made  of 
stone  or  bricks  covered  with  stucco,  and  roofed  with  red 
tiles.  A  large  part  of  the  town  is  given  up  to  convents 
and  churches,  and  we  see  priests,  clad  in  white  and  in  black 
gowns,  going  about  everywhere. 


48 


ECUADOR. 


There  are  many  women  dressed  in  black,  with  black 
shawls  on  their  heads,  going  to  and  fro,  and  crowds  of  queer 
Indians  who  have  come  in  from  the  country.  The  Indians 
have  on  bright-colored  costumes,  each  tribe  having  a  style 
of  its  own. 

Ecuador  has  a  great  many  Indians.  More  than  two 
thirds  of  the  population,  it  is  said,  are  of  the  red  race.  The 
majority  of  the  Indians  are  semicivilized.  They  have 
small  farms,  or  work  for  the  whites  and  mixed  race  of 
Spaniards  and  Indians.  These  people  are  the  descendants 
of  those  ruled  by  the  Incas  at  the  time  the  Spaniards  first 
came.  They  had  approached  nearer  to  civilization  than 
the  Indians  of  the  lowlands,  and  had  covered  this  valley 
between  the  ranges  of  the  Andes  with  their  cities  and  vil- 
lages. 

One  of  the  largest  cities  was  Quito,  a  much  greater  town 
then  than  it  is  now.  In  it  Atahualpa  (a-ta-hwaFpa),  the 
Inca  monarch,  had  a  palace  whose  roof  was  covered  with 

gold,  and  there  were  many  other 
fine  houses. 

The  Spaniards  under  Pizarro 
conquered  Atahualpa  and  made 
the  Indians  their  slaves.  Other 
Spaniards  came  afterwards ;  some 
of  them  married  with  the  Indians, 
and  the  descendants  of  the  Span- 
iards and  of  the  Spaniards  and 
Indians  form  the  ruling  classes  in 
Ecuador  to-day. 

The  pure  Indians  are  still  little 

more  than  the  slaves  of  the  whites. 

They   till   the  soil.      They  carry 

Uncivilized  Indians.  boxes  of  goods  on  their  backs  up 


LAND    OF   THE    EQUATOR. 


49 


Human  Head,  Dried. 


and  down  the  mountains,  and  do  all  kinds  of  hard  labor 

for  small  pay.     They  are  not  thrifty,  and  do  not  seem  to 

care  that  they  are  in  debt  to  their  masters, 

who   can  therefore  force  them  to  work. 

They  seem  to  have  no  ambition  whatever. 

If  one  of  them  has  a  little  brick  or  stone 

hut,  a  suit  or  two  of  cotton  clothes,  and  a 

little  rice  and  meat,  with  enough  money 

to  enable  him  to  get  drunk  now  and  then, 

he  considers  himself  very  well  off. 

Not  all  the  Indians  in  Ecuador  are  civ- 
ilized.   Some  whom  we  see  in  Quito  have 
very  hard  faces.     They  have  come  on  long  journeys  from 
the  eastern  part  of  the  country,  bringing  skins  and  other 
things  from  the  wilds  to  the  markets  for  sale.     Among 
them  are  Indians  who  have  a  horrible 
practice  of  curing  the  heads  of  the  ene- 
mies they  kill.     They  cut  off  the  head 
and,  having  removed  the  bones,  fill  the 
skin  with  hot  pebbles  to  dry  it.     As  it 
shrinks  they  keep  pressing  it  inward  on 
all  sides  so  carefully  that  it  does  not  lose 
its  shape,  but  dries  up  to  the  size  of  a 
man's  fist,  keeping  the  same  features  it 
had  when  in  life.     Such  heads  are  some- 
times baked  in  the   sand,  and  when  so 
treated  they  will  last  for  years.     They 
are  grewsome  objects,  and  when  an  In- 
dian takes  us  aside  and  offers  to  sell  us 
one,  which  he  pulls  from  under  his  blan- 
ket, we  turn  away  in  disgust. 
There  is  a  university  in  Quito,  and  in  our  trips  through 
the  country  we  find  here  and  there  a  public  school.     We 


Water  Carrier. 


50  PERU. 

can  always  tell  where  they  are,  for  the  children  study 
out  loud,  often  making  such  a  din  that  they  can  be 
heard  a  long  distance.  We  learn,  however,  that  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  people  can  read,  and  that  the  majority 
of  the  children  do  not  attend  school.  This  condition  will 
probably  be  bettered,  for  although  Ecuador  is  one  of  the 
most  backward  of  the  South  American  countries,  it  is 
slowly  improving. 

A  railroad  has  been  planned  from  the  coast  up  the 
Andes  to  Quito.  A  part  of  it  is  already  built,  and  the 
day  may  come  when  this  temperate  valley,  with  its  rich 
farming  lands,  will  be  connected  with  the  seaport  by  rail. 

At  present  the  only  way  to  and  from  Guayaquil  is  by 
mule,  and  we  must  travel  back  in  the  same  way  we  came. 


o>^< 


VI.     THE    GREAT    SOUTH    AMERICAN 
DESERT. 

WE  have  left  Ecuador  and  are  now  in  the  coast  lands 
of  Peru.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  the  great  South 
American  desert,  which  extends  from  Ecuador  two  thou- 
sand miles  south  along  the  coast  of  Peru  and  Chile.  As 
far  as  we  can  see  to  the  north  and  south  there  is  nothing 
but  sand,  sand,  sand.  On  the  east  the  thirsty  foothills  of 
the  Andes  rise  and  lose  themselves  in  gray  rocky  moun- 
tains, which,  piled  one  above  another,  end  at  last  in  per- 
petual snow.  On  the  west  are  the  sparkling  waters  of 
the  Pacific,  casting  their  silvery  spray  upon  the  beach. 
The  air  is  cool  and  dry,  but  the  sand  is  so  dazzling  under 
the  rays  of  the  sun  that  we  shield  our  eyes  with  smoked 
spectacles  to  keep  out  the  glare. 


GREAT   DESERT. 


51 


In  the  coast  lands  of  Ecuador  the  soil  was  black  and 
moist,  and  the  tropical  vegetation  so  thick  that  we  had  to 
chop  our  way  a  foot  at  a  time  to  get  through  it  Here 
we  gallop  on  our  horses  for  miles  without  seeing  a  tree,  a 
flower,  or  a  blade  of  grass. 

Now  we  pass  queerly  shaped  hills  which  seem  to  be  in 
motion,  and  which  really  are  moving  toward  the  north. 
These  are  the  traveling  sand  dunes  of  Peru.  They  are  of 
the  shape  of  a  half-moon  and  are  of  different  sizes,  some 
so  small  that  they  could  be  put  into  a  schoolroom,  and 
others  so  large  that  they  contain  many  hundreds  of  tons  of 
this  traveling  sand. 


But  how  can  a  hill  travel?  Come  to  one  of  the  sand 
mounds  and  see.  The  coast  winds,  which  here  blow 
almost  always  toward  the  north,  roll  the  Httle  grains  on 
the  south  side  of  the  pile  over  one  another,  so  that  they 
travel  up  the  outside  of  the  half-moon  and  roll  down  on 


52       ^  PERU. 

the  inside,  keeping  the  hill  of  the  same  shape,  but  slowly 
moving  it  onward. 

The  traveling  sands  cover  up  everything  they  meet. 
They  hide  the  bridle  paths,  which'  are  the  only  roads  of 
the  desert,  and  for  this  reason  we  dare  not  go  without  a 
guide,  who  directs  our  course  by  the  stars  at  night  and 
tells  us  where  we  are  by  the  winds  during  the  day. 

Now  we  see  the  skull  of  a  traveler  who  has  been  lost 
and  has  died  here,  and  now  and  then  a  flock  of  vultures 
picking  at  the  bones  of  animals  which  have  perished  of 
thirst  in  the  desert ;  now  a  mighty  condor,  the  biggest  bird 
that  flies,  circles  high  in  the  air  above  us,  making  a  mov- 
ing shadow  on  the  plain;  but  for  most  of  the  time  there  is 
nothing  but  sand  and  rock  and  sea. 

Is  not  this  a  wonderful  region  ?  Yes  ;  but  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  it  cannot  be  otherwise  when  we  think  just  where 
it  is.  First,  let  us  remember  that  the  atmosphere  is  the 
clothing  of  the  earth,  and  that  old  Mother  Earth  works  well 
only  when  her  clothes  are  periodically  wet.  We  also  know 
that  the  mountains  are  the  great  clothes  wringers  of 
nature.  They  squeeze  the  water  out  of  the  air  which 
comes  against  them,  and  by  the  differences  in  temperature 
cause  it  to  fall  upon  the  land. 

Now,  the  chief  winds  which  sweep  over  the  South 
American  continent  come  from  the  east.  They  start 
from  the  hot  shores  of  Africa  across  the  warm  regions  of 
the  South  Atlantic.  They  pump  themselves  full  of  water 
as  they  cross  the  ocean,  so  that  when  they  reach  the  coast 
of  Brazil  they  are  well  loaded.  As  they  go  over  the  land 
they  are  somewhat  cooled,  and  drop  some  of  their  burden 
in  the  form  of  rain,  feeding  the  great  rivers  of  eastern  South 
America,  and  covering  the  land  with  tropical  verdure. 

They  drop  more  and  more  water  as  they  climb  up  the 


GREAT    DESERT. 


53 


eastern  slopes  of  the  Andes,  so  that  when  they  have 
reached  the  top  almost  all  has  been  squeezed  out,  and 
what  is  left  falls  there  in  snow.  These  winds  then  sweep 
on  along  the  Pacific.  They  are  cold,  but  so  dry  that  they 
have  not  a  drop  left  for  the  coast.  The  result  is  a  desert 
upon  which  rain  seldom  falls. 

And  are  there  no  oases  in  this  great  desert?  Yes;  here 
and  there,  at  wide  distances  apart,  we  find  little  rivers 
made  by  the  melting  snows  of  the  Andes.  There  are  in 
the  whole  two  thousand  miles  of  sand  about  forty  such 
streams,  and  along  them  are  the  only  places  where  people 
live.  It  is  in  these  snow-water  valleys  that  Lima,  the 
capital  of  Peru,  and  other  quite  large  cities  are  located, 
and  here  are  some  of  the  best  farm  lands  of  Peru.  The 
soil  of  the  desert  is  rich,  and  if  water  can  be  got  to  it 
it  will  produce  almost  any  kind  of  crops.  We  ride  out  of 
the  sands  into  irrigated 
fields,  and  are  surprised 
to  see  the  rich  planta- 
tions of  sugar  cane,  rice, 
tobacco,  and  cotton 
which  grow  here,  with 
nothing  but  sand  all 
about  them. 

We  come  upon  vine- 
yards, in  which  deli- 
cious grapes  hang  from 
the  vines,  and  we  slake 
our  thirst  with  oranges 
which  we  pick  from  the 
trees.  There  are  no 
better  fruit  lands  any- 
where than  the  irrigated 

CARP.   S.  AM. — 4. 


Papaw  Tree. 


54  PERU. 

valleys  of  this  sandy  region.  Bananas,  oranges,  limes,  and 
lemons  grow  side  by  side  with  peaches  and  pears,  and 
there  are  delicious  cherries,  plums,  dates,  and  figs.  There 
are  watermelons  and  muskmelons,  guavas  and  mangoes, 
and  also  papaws  and  alligator  pears.  The  papaw  is  a 
fruit  as  large  as  a  muskmelon  and  grows  on  a  tree,  and 
the  alligator  pear,  which  is  not  so  large  as  our  pears  at 
home,  has  a  flesh  that  tastes  like  fresh  butter,  and  is  eaten 
with  salt.  We  find  fruit  for  sale  in  every  town,  and  for 
a  very  few  cents  we  can  buy  all  we  can  eat. 

The  farms  are  divided  into  small  fields,  fenced  with 
thick  walls  of  mud  as  high  as  your  waist,  and  are  covered 
with  a  network  of  ditches  to  water  the  crops. 

In  the  north,  in  the  Piura  valley,  there  are  rich  fields  of 
cotton,  much  of  the  cotton  wool  being  red  or  brown  in- 
stead of  white  like  ours.  Peru  raises  fine  cotton.  If  the 
plants  are  allowed  to  grow  they  become  trees  and  produce 
small  crops  of  cotton  for  ten  years.  The  cotton  plant 
blooms  throughout  most  of  the  year,  and  we  see  buds,  blos- 
soms, and  cotton  wool  on  the  same  tree  at  the  same  time. 
The  best  of  the  cotton  is  grown  on  plants  only  one  or  two 
years  old.  It  is  more  like  wool  than  ordinary  cotton,  and 
is  used  by  the  manufacturers  of  hats,  stockings,  and  un- 
derclothes to  mix  with  wool,  as  it  renders  the  articles 
less  liable  to  shrink. 

There  are  many  sugar  estates  in  the  valleys  farther 
south.  Sugar  cane  is  one  of  the  chief  crops  of  Peru.  The 
cane  is  much  like  our  Indian  corn.  It  is  planted  in  rows, 
and  comes  up  so  luxuriantly  that  the  fields  in  the  distance 
seem  a  mass  of  beautiful  green.  Some  of  the  plantations 
are  large  and  well  worked.  Many  of  the  rich  farmers  use 
steam  plows  and  harrows,  and  the  cane  is  hauled  from  the 
fields  to  the  sugar  mills  upon  little  railroads. 


GREAT    DESERT. 


55 


Most  of  the  farming,  however,  is  done  in  a  small  way. 
The  fields  are  cultivated  with  oxen  yoked  to  the  plows 
by  their  horns.  They  do  little  more  than  scratch  the 
ground  as  they  drag  the  plow  over  it. 

The  larger  farms  are  owned  by  the  rich  whites  or  by  peo- 
ple of  the  mixed  race  of  Spaniards  and  Indians.  Those 
who  do  the  work  are  the  Indians,  who,  from  their  lack  of 
ambition,  and  from  the  laws  which  make  those  in  debt  work 
for  their  creditors,  are  little  more  than  the  slaves  of  the 


Peons  in  Ponchos  and  Rebosas. 

whites.  The  peons,  as  these  people  are  often  called, 
receive  very  low  wages,  but  seem  to  be  perfectly  satisfied 
with  their  lot.  They  are  very  ignorant,  and  but  few  know 
how  to  read. 

There  is  a  group  of  them  now  at  work  in  that  field. 


56  PERU. 

They  are  as  brown  as  our  Indians,  although  they  do  not 
look  at  all  savage.  Both  women  and  men  wear  straw 
hats.  The  men  have  on  leather  sandals,  but  the  women 
and  children  are  barefooted.  The>  dress  in  that  way  all 
the  year  round,  except  when  it  is  cold  and  on  Sundays 
and  feast  days.  Then  the  men  wear  ponchos  over  their 
shoulders,  and  the  women  have  rebosas  draped  about  their 
shoulders  and  heads. 

We  shall  see  ponchos  and  rebosas  nearly  everywhere  on 
the  west  coast  of  the  continent.  The  poncho  is  the  over- 
coat and  dress  coat  of  the  native  man.  It  is  merely  a 
bright-colored  blanket  as  large  as  a  bed  blanket,  with  a 
hole  in  the  middle.  You  stick  your  head  through  the 
hole  and  allow  the  folds  to  come  down  over  your  shoul- 
ders. It  looks  quite  picturesque,  and  it  is  both  warm  and 
comfortable.  The  rebosa  is  a  long  black  shawl  large 
enough  to  cover  the  shoulders  and  at  the  same  time  to  be 
wrapped  around  the  head. 

But  let  us  enter  the  hut  of  one  of  the  peons  and  learn 
how  they  live.  The  hut  is  made  of  cane,  and  we  can  see 
out  on  all  sides  through  the  cracks  in  the  walls.  The 
floor  is  the  ground,  and  the  roof  is  of  reeds,  for  it  is  needed 
only  to  keep  out  the  sun,  there  being  no  danger  of  rain 
on  the  desert.  The  house  has  only  one  robm,  which  is 
not  so  large  as  many  a  room  in  our  houses  at  home. 

Where  is  the  furniture?  It  looks  as  if  the  people  had 
moved,  for  there  is  not  much  to  be  seen.  There  in  the 
corner  is  a  wooden  platform  as  high  as  your  knee.  That 
is  the  sleeping  place  for  the  father  and  mother.  The 
children  sleep  on  the  floor.  There  are  no  mattresses,  no 
blankets,  and  no  quilts.  Each  peon  wears  at  night  the  same 
clothing  he  has  on  during  the  day,  the  little  ones  huddHng 
together  to  keep  warm  when  the  nights  are  cold. 


GREAT    DESERT.  57 

Look  at  the  opposite  corner.  See  those  two  stones 
placed  just  wide  enough  apart  to  allow  that  earthen  pot  to 
rest  on  them.  That  is  the  cooking  stove  for  the  family. 
In  preparing  the  meals  a  fire  will  be  placed  under  it,  and 
thus  the  stew  of  goat's  meat  and  rice,  the  most  common 
food,  will  be  cooked.  The  house  has  neither  windows  nor 
chimneys,  and,  with  the  exception  of  that  rude  box  over 
there,  no  furniture  at  all.  This  Indian  has  a  few  chickens 
and  goats.  You  can  see  them  now  outside  the  hut.  At 
night  he  will  bring  them  indoors,  and  animals  and  family 
will  all  rest  together. 

We  shall  find  such  Indians  over  all  Peru,  although  their 
houses  and  clothes  will  be  warmer  in  the  cold  lands  of  the 
mountains.  They  are  of  the  same  race  as  the  Indians  we 
saw  in  the  highlands  of  Ecuador,  and  we  can  hardly  real- 
ize that  they  once  owned  the  whole  country  and  that  they 
were  more  civilized  in  some  ways  than  their  descendants 
are  to-day.  We  shall  see  the  ruins  of  their  large  cities 
and  villages,  and  discover  evidences  that  they  once  farmed 
a  vast  territory  which  is  now  nothing  but  desert  and  waste. 
They  knew  how  to  irrigate  the  soil.  They  even  cultivated 
the  hillsides  of  the  Andes.  There  are  still  terraces  high 
up  in  the  mountains  which  they  cut  out  and  built  up  with 
earth  to  raise  crops. 

These  Indians  were  a  very  rich  people,  and  their  rulers 
really  did  eat  and  drink  from  dishes  of  gold  and  silver,  just 
as  the  Indian  chief  told  Balboa.  Their  Spanish  conquerors 
took  out  of  one  of  their  temples,  it  is  said,  as  much  gold  as 
forty-two  horses  could  haul  at  one  time,  and  about  twice 
as  much  silver.  The  silver  nails  of  another  temple  weighed 
twenty-two  thousand  ounces,  and  there  was  so  much  more 
silver  that  when  the  horses  of  the  invaders  needed  new 
shoes  they  were  shod  with  this  precious  white  metal. 


58  PERU. 

The  leader  of  the  Spaniards  was  named  Pizarro.  He 
was  a  cruel  man,  and  acted  dishonestly  with  the  Indians 
and  with  the  Inca  king,  their  ruler.  After  he  had  got 
possession  of  the  king  by  inviting  him  to  take  supper 
with  him  in  his  fortress,  he  closed  the  gates  and  killed 
the  king's  attendants.  He  then  fought  the  Indian  army, 
which  was  thus  without  a  commander,  and  conquered  it. 
He  kept  the  king  in  prison,  but  told  him  he  would  release 
him  if  his  subjects  would  fill  the  room  in  which  he  was 
imprisoned  with  gold  from  the  floor  to  a  mark  on  the 
wall  as  high  up  as  a  man  could  reach.  The  king  sent 
this  word  out  over  the  land  by  messengers.  A  vast 
amount  of  gold  was  brought,  and  then  Pizarro,  instead  of 
allowing  the  king  to  go  free,  had  him  condemned  to  death 
and  cruelly  killed. 

The  Spaniards  soon  became  masters  of  the  whole  coun- 
try. For  centuries  after  this  time  they  treated  the  Indians 
with  the  greatest  cruelty.  They  made  slaves  of  them, 
forcing  them  to  work  in  the  mines.  They  used  them  so 
badly  that  many  died,  so  that  to-day  Peru,  with  both 
white  people  and  Indians,  has  not  so  many  inhabitants  as 
it  had  when  the  Spaniards  first  came. 


>»« 


VII.      IN    LIMA,    THE    CAPITAL    OF    PERU. 

LET  us  chmb  to  the  roof  of  our  hotel  and  take  a  bird's- 
j  eye  view  of  the  Peruvian  capital  before  we  begin  to 
explore  it.  We  are  in  a  vast  field  of  flat  roofs,  above 
which,  here  and  there,  rise  the  massive  towers  of  great 
churches.  At  the  back  are  the  bleak  foothills  of  the 
Andes,   gray  and   forbidding.      There   are   white   clouds 


LIMA. 


59 


rushing  over  their  sides,  and  the  hills  rise  one  above  the 
other  until  they  lose  themselves  in  the  dark,  smoky  sky. 
This  morning   the  tops  of   the   Andes  are  hidden.      On 


At 


the  bleak  foothills  of  the  Andes." 


bright  days  their  snowy  summits,  glistening  in  the  sun- 
light, shine  like  masses  of  silver  high  above  Lima. 

Turn  your  eyes  again  to  the  city.  See  that  rushing 
stream  which  flows  through  it.  That  is  the  Rimac  (re^- 
mac)  river,  which  has  come  from  the  tops  of  the  Andes 
to  water  this  beautiful  valley,  whose  green  fields  stretch 
away  beyond  the  houses  to  the  right  and  left. 

It  is  this  river  that  makes  Lima  possible.  Without  it 
all  would  be  desert.  It  waters  the  large  plantations  of 
sugar,  cotton,  and  other  rich  crops  which  extend   from 


6o  PERU. 

here  six  miles  to  the  south,  where  the  river  flows  into  the 
sea. 

With  a  glass  we  can  see  the  Pacific.  That  town  on  the 
coast  is  Callao  (cal-la'o),  the  seaport  of  the  capital  and  the 
chief  port  of  Peru,  and  that  train  which  is  rushing  down 
through  the  green  fields  is  carrying  passengers  and  freight 
from  Lima  to  the  steamers. 

What  queer  roofs  these  are  all  about  us!  They  are 
more  like  little  gardens  than  the  coverings  of  houses. 
Please  step  more  lightly,  and  do  not  stamp  your  feet  as 
you  walk  to  and  fro.  The  roof  is  trembling  under  us,  and 
with  a  little  effort  we  could  push  our  way  through.  The 
roof  is  made  of  bamboo  poles,  with  earth  spread  upon  them. 
Were  it  not  for  the  plaster,  the  dust  would  sift  through 
into  the  rooms.  It  is  so  with  the  most  of  the  other  houses 
about  us,  some  being  covered  with  canes,  upon  which  mat- 
ting is  spread,  and  upon  that  a  layer  of  earth,  sand,  or  ashes. 

Is  not  this  a  strange  way  to  build  houses?  You  would 
think  all  would  melt  through  if  it  rains.  Yes,  so  it  would, 
but  we  must  not  forget  where  we  are.  We  are  in  the  great 
desert  region  of  western  South  America,  where  it  seldom 
rains  from  one  year's  end  to  the  other.  There  are  prob- 
ably not  a  dozen  umbrellas  in  all  these  houses  below  us, 
and  none  of  the  people  need  waterproofs  or  rubber  shoes. 
The  people  can  always  depend  on  dry  weather. 

The  houses  of  Lima  are  constructed  of  mud,  because 
this  is  the  cheapest  of  building  materials.  The  city,  not- 
withstanding, has  a  substantial  appearance.  It  seems  at 
first  to  be  made  of  brick  and  stone.  The  mud  walls  of 
some  of  its  buildings  look  hke  marble ;  others  are  painted 
to  imitate  granite,  and  others  of  bright  colors  seem  to  be 
made  of  brick  covered  with  plaster.  Most  of  them  are  in 
reality  nothing  but  mud,  being  made  of  sun-dried  brick. 


LIMA. 


6l 


We  are  surprised  at  the  extent  of  some  of  the  houses. 
They  are  very  large.  ihey  are  usually  of  one  or  two 
stories.  In  the  two-story  buildings  only  the  first  story  is 
made  of  sun-dried  brick,  the  second  being  a  combination 
of  mud  and  bamboo  canes. 

From  the  roof  we  can  see  the  shape  of  the  houses. 
Each  is  constructed  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  square,  with  a 
little  court  or  garden  in  the  center.  About  the  court  the 
people  sit  at  night,  this  being  their  favorite  lounging  place. 
Many  of  the  windows  open  on  the  courts,  but  much  of  the 
light  comes  from  the  roofs.  Little  dormer  windows  are 
built  up  for  this  purpose  from  nearly  every  one  of  the 
houses.  The  dormers  look  like  chicken  coops,  and  it  is 
indeed  hard  to  tell  which  are  the  roof  windows  and  wKich 
are  the  real  chicken  coops. 

Yes,    I   mean  chicken  coops  which   contain   chickens. 


From  the  roof  we  can  see  the  shape  of  the  houses. 


62 


PERU. 


Don't  you  see  the  coops  on  the  roofs  all  about  us?  On 
that  building  just  over  the  way  the  hens  are  putting  their 
heads  out  through  the  slats,  and  just  beyond  is  a  coop  in 
which  a  rooster  is  crowing.  Thousands  of  chickens  are 
raised  on  the  tops  of  the  houses  of  Lima.  Chickens  are 
hatched,  grow  up,  and  themselves  lay  eggs,  and  are  finally 
killed  for  the  kitchens  below.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  some 
people  in  Lima  keep  cows  and  goats  on  their  roofs,  but 
there  are  none  in  sight  from  where  we  now  stand. 

But  let  us  go  down  and  take  a  walk  through  the  city. 
The  streets  are  narrow.  They  cross  one  another  at  right 
angles,  with  parks  or  plazas  cut  out  here  and  there.     The 


Each  house  has  a  little  court  in  the  center." 


business  streets  have  awnings  out  over  the  sidewalks,  and 
there  are  many  balconies  or  porches  which  jut  out,  so  that 
we  are  protected  from  the  rays  of  the  sun.      It  is  but  a 


LIMA. 


63 


few  steps  from  our  hotel  to  the  chief  plaza  or  square,  on 
one  side  of  which  is  the  great  Lima  cathedral. 

This  building  is  one  of  the  finest  churches  on  the  South 
American  continent.  It  is  older  than  any  church  in  our 
country,  and  although  it  is  made  of  sun-dried  brick,  it  has 
cost  milHons  of  dollars.  We  enter  it  and  take  a  look  at 
the  skeleton  of  the  treacherous  Pizarro,  which  is  preserved 
here  in  a  coffin  of  glass,  and  then  go  out  and  cross  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  square,  where  is  the  capitol  of  Peru. 

The  country  is  a  republic,  and  it  is  in  this  long,  low, 
tw  3-story  building  that  Congress  sits  and  the  president 
has  his  offices.  There  are  soldiers  at  all  the  entrances, 
and  we  see  that  the  ruler  of  Peru  is  far  more  carefully 
guarded  than  our  president.  Elections  are  not  so  fair  here 
as  in  the  United 
States,  and  when 
one  party  is  defeat- 
ed it  often  brings 
about  a  revolution. 
The  soldiers  of  the 
defeated  party  at- 
tempt to  drive  out 
the  president,  and  if 
they  can  do  so  they 
take  charge  of  the 
government  until 
another  election  is 
held. 

But  suppose  we 
go  shopping.  It  is 
now  about  four  in 
the  afternoon,  and 
for    the    next    hour  "The  business  streets  have  awnings, 


64  PERU. 

the  streets  will  be  filled  with  well-dressed  people,  some 
chatting  together,  and  others  going  from  store  to  store 
buying  goods. 

The  business  hours  of  South  American  cities  are  from 
seven  in  the  morning  until  eleven,  and  from  one  until  six 
in  the  afternoon.  Between  eleven  and  one  most  of  the 
stores  are  closed.  The  merchants  go  to  their  breakfasts; 
for  the  people  like  to  rest  during  the  heat  of  the  day. 

Lima  has  many  fine  stores.  They  have  no  windows, 
but  the  doors  are  so  made  that  the  fronts  can  be  opened, 
and  as  we  walk  through  the  streets  we  seem  to  be  passing 
through  a  museum  with  goods  of  all  kinds  piled  upon  the 
floors. 

What  queerly  dressed  women  we  meet  everywhere! 
They  are  clad  in  black,  and  they  look  more  like  nuns  than 
like  our  own  mothers  and  sisters  out  walking  or  shopping 
at  home.  Peruvian  women  do  not  wear  bonnets.  Instead, 
they  have  fine  black  cloths  draped  about  their  heads  and 
pinned  fast  at  the  back  of  the  neck,  so  that  only  the  face 
shows.  This  is  the  dress  the  ladies  wear  on  the  streets. 
It  is  contrary  to  custom  for  a  woman  to  go  into  church 
with  anything  else  on  her  head,  and  if  one  should  attempt 
to  enter  wearing  a  bonnet  she  would  be  touched  with  a 
stick  by  the  sexton  and  told  to  uncover  her  head.  The 
women  of  the  upper  classes  when  at  home  dress  much  as 
we  do,  and  are  quite  as  fond  of  gay  clothes. 

The  men  wear  clothes  similar  to  ours.  They  have  on 
tall  hats  and  kid  gloves,  and  nearly  every  one  carries  a 
cane.  See  how  they  lift  their  hats,  smile,  and  shake 
hands  when  they  meet,  and  how  they  smile  and  tip  their 
hats  when  they  part.  The  Peruvians  are  very  polite,  and 
especially  cordial  to  strangers.  One  of  them  will  walk  a 
block  to  show  us  our  way,  and  if  we  admire  anything  he 


LIMA. 


65 


has  he  will  at  once  offer  it  to  us  as  a  gift.  We  must  not 
accept  such  gifts,  however,  for  they  are  made  merely  as 
a  matter  of  form. 

During  a  recent  trip  in  South  America  I  was  offered  all 
sorts  of  things,  from  diamond  rings  to  poodle  dogs  and 
fast  horses.  One  day  a  rich  Peruvian  told  me  that  his 
palace  was  mine.  I  felt  quite  rich  for  a  moment,  but 
when  I  remembered  that  the  palace  was  worth  a  fortune, 
I  knew  he  could  not  be  in  earnest,  and  politely  refused. 

But  let  us  leave  the  stores  and  walk  through  the  city. 
The  streets  are  so  narrow  that  the  carriages  which  go  this 
way  and  that  have  trouble  in  passing,  and  we  are  often 
crowded  against  the  walls  by  the  hucksters  and  milk- 
women,  who  ride  quite  close  to  the  sidewalk  to  keep  out 
of  the  throng.  The  hucksters  carry  their  vegetables  about 
in  panniers  slung  upon  donkeys, 
and  the  bread  man  rides  a  horse 
with  a  bag  of  loaves  on  each  side. 

That  woman  who  is  coming  to- 
ward us  is  a  milkwoman.  See 
how  she  bobs  up  and  down  as  her 
pony  trots  onward.  She  has  her 
cans  in  those  leather  buckets  fast- 
ened to  the  sides  of  the  pony,  and 
she  is  sitting  almost  on  top  of  the 
buckets,  with  her  feet  about  his 
neck.  She  is  dressed  in  bright 
calico  and  wears  above  her  brown 
face  a  broad-brimmed  Panama 
hat.  Now  she  stops  and  slides 
down  over  the  horse's  neck  to  the  street.  She  ties  a  rope 
around  his  front  legs  at  the  ankles  to  keep  him  from  run- 
ning away,  and  takes  one  of  the  buckets  into  that  house. 


That  is  a  milkwoman,' 


66  PERU. 

All  the  milk  of  Lima  is  thus  served.  The  streets  are  too 
narrow  for  carts  or  large  wagons,  and  the  huckstering  is 
done  on  horses,  donkeys,  or  mules. 

Next  morning  we  go  to  the  market  Here  we  find 
dozens  of  donkeys  loaded  with  all  sorts  of  things.  We 
see  scores  of  milkwomen  starting  out  on  their  horses  to 
peddle  milk  through  the  city.  The  big  market  house  is 
thronged  with  cooks  and  other  women  buying  things  for 
their  tables. 

As  we  go  by  the  stalls  we  see  that  Peru  is  a  land  of 
good  things  to  eat.  There  are  string  beans  as  long  as 
your  arm.  They  are  tied  up  in  bunches  and  hung  upon 
poles.  We  see  potatoes  of  all  kinds,  some  of  which  are  as 
yellow  as  gold.  They  are  the  famous  paj^as  amarillas^  the 
yellow  potatoes  of  Peru.     They  are  delicious  when  cooked. 

We  see  sweet  potatoes  of  many  varieties,  and  quantities 
of  yucca,  a  rootlike  tuber  somewhat  like  the  potato,  used 
in  many  of  the  South  American  countries.  It  grows  as  big 
around  as  a  baseball  bat,  and  is  often  two  feet  in  length. 
It  is  very  white,  and  its  flesh  is  somewhat  waxy  and  jelly- 
like. 

There  are  roasting  ears  at  almost  all  the  vegetable  stands, 
and  squashes,  pumpkins,  and  many  kinds  of  melons. 
There  are  oranges,  lemons,  and  alligator  pears.  There  are 
guavas  and  pomegranates,  pineapples  and  bananas,  peaches 
and  pears,  and  grapes  of  many  kinds.  There  are  excellent 
fish,  one  kind  of  which  is  dressed  with  lemon  juice  and 
eaten  raw.  There  are  all  sorts  of  meats,  and  you  can  buy 
a  kid  or  a  half-dozen  guinea  pigs  for  a  trifle.  The  Peru- 
vians are  very  fond  of  guinea  pigs,  and  raise  them  for  food. 
The  meat  tastes  like  young  pigeon  or  the  tenderest  squir- 
rel. We  try  it  ourselves  in  the  form  of  a  stew,  and  find  it 
delicious. 


UP   THE    ANDES.  6/ 


VIII.     UP  THE    ANDES. 

GET  out  your  overcoats,  put  on  your  high  boots  or 
thick  shoes,  and  take  your  gloves  with  you.  We  are 
bound  for  the  top  of  the  Andes,  and  may  have  to  tramp 
through  the  snow. 

We  shall  go  there  upon  the  Oro'ya  Railroad,  the  steep- 
est railroad  of  the  world.  It  begins  at  Callao,  on  the  Pa- 
cific, and  passes  through  Lima  on  its  way  up  the  Andes.  It 
was  planned  by  an  American  named  Meiggs,  who  intended 
that  it  should  connect  the  seaport  with  the  famous  silver 
mines  of  Cerro  de  Pasco.  It  would  cost  so  much,  how- 
ever, that  it  has  not  been  completed.  It  now  extends  to 
a  short  distance  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains,  al- 
though it  is  planned  to  build  it  at  some  time  to  the  navi- 
gable tributaries  of  the  Amazon,  about  three  hundred 
miles  farther  on. 

As  it  is,  the  road  is  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
long.  It  is  so  steep,  however,  that  it  will  carry  us  more 
than  three  miles  above  where  we  now  are,  and  bring  us  to 
the  great  plateau  between  the  tops  of  the  Andes. 

Leaving  Lima  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  first 
travel  through  the  sugar  and  cotton  plantations  of  the 
Rimac  valley.  The  fields  are  as  green  as  Georgia  in  June. 
The  cotton  plants  are  in  blossom,  and  the  plantations  look 
like  vast  gardens  of  pink  and  light-yellow  roses.  There 
are  gangs  of  Indian  peons,  clad  in  white  cotton,  working 
among  them.  The  fields  are  as  well  kept  as  our  gardens 
at  home. 

We  pass  several  villages  of  one-story  houses,  go  by  a 
cotton  mill  and  a  large  sugar  factory,  and  then  shoot  out 


68 


PERU. 


of  the  green  into  the  dry  foothills  of  the  Andes.  What  a 
change !  The  vegetation  has  disappeared.  The  low  hills 
are  bleak  and  bare  in  the  light  of  the  early  morning.  We 
ride  for  miles,  climbing  higher  and  higher,  and  seeing 
nothing  but  dazzling  gray  rock. 

Farther  on  a  thin  fuzz  of  green  crops  out  of  the  gray. 
Now  a  little  cactus  and  small  bunches  of  weeds  appear. 


Fruit  Sellers  at  Railroad  Station. 


As  we  rise  higher  still  the  mountains  grow  greener.  At  a 
mile  above  the  sea  there  is  a  thin  coat  of  grass,  and  at  two 
miles  we  count  forty  different  kinds  of  flowers  at  a  stop- 
ping of  the  train.  There  are  buttercups  without  number, 
and  flowers  of  all  colors,  the  names  of  which  we  do  not 
know.  It  is  now  winter  in  the  Andes,  when  halfway  up 
the  western  slope  there  are  frequent  mists  or  light  rains 
In  summer  all  is  as  gray  and  sterile  as  the  desert  below. 


UP   THE   ANDES.  69 

Now  we  are  still  higher.  We  have  come  to  a  region 
where  only  bits  of  soil  are  to  be  seen  here  and  there. 
Notice  how  the  people  till  every  foot  of  good  ground. 
The  fields  on  this  hill  are  not  bigger  than  a  bedspread, 
and  those  on  the  other  side  of  the  valley  opposite  the 
railroad  seem  in  the  distance  the  size  of  a  handkerchief. 
See  those  green  ledges  one  above  the  other  on  the  moun- 
tainside. They  rise  almost  to  the  tops  of  the  hills,  and 
were  so  made  that  a  man  could  stand  on  any  of  the  lower 
ones  and  weed  the  crop  on  the  ledge  just  above.  Those 
terraces  were  built  by  the  Indians  in  the  time  of  the 
Incas.     They  are  used  only  for  grazing  to-day. 

Now  we  have  stopped  at  a  station.  About  it  there  is  a 
village  of  huts  with  walls  of  sun-dried  brick  and  roofs  of 
gray  thatch.  The  stones  upon  the  roof  have  been  laid 
there  to  keep  the  strong  winds  from  lifting  the  thatch. 
How  small  the  huts  are,  and  how  mean !  Some  are  not 
better  than  dog  kennels.  They  are  the  homes  of  the 
people  who  are  gathering  about  us  as  we  stand  on  the 
platform.  They  are  dark-faced  Indian  men,  women,  and 
children,  dressed  in  white  cottons.  You  may  see  more  of 
them  at  work  in  the  fields,  or  tending  the  sheep  which 
graze  in  the  mountains. 

How  pure  the  air  is,  and  how  grand  the  scenes  all  about 
us!  The  mountains  rise  almost  straight  up  over  our 
heads.  The  railroad  hangs  to  their  sides,  and  we  ride  for 
miles  between  walls  of  rock  which  look  like  gigantic 
cathedrals,  their  spires  lost  in  the  clouds.  We  shoot 
through  tunnels  which  wind  about  like  the  letter  S,  and 
cross  steel  bridges  over  deep  canyons  above  mountain 
streams.  Every  turn  brings  new  pictures,  some  of  which 
are  of  terrible  grandeur. 

What  a  triumph  of  modern  engineering  was  the  build- 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 5. 


70  PERU. 

ing  of  this  track  up  the  Andes !  It  cost  many  millions  of 
dollars  and  thousands  of  lives.  The  road  goes  up  some 
of  the  steepest  mountains  of  the  globe.  Much  of  its  bed 
was  cut  out  of  the  rocks.  At  times  the  men  had  to  be 
lowered  in  baskets  over  the  precipices  to  drill  holes  for  the 


"We  shoot  through  tunnels." 

blasting.  The  tracks  wind  this  way  and  that,  one  above 
the  other,  so  that  in  places  we  can  count  five  different 
tracks  which  run  parallel  one  over  the  other,  showing  us 
how  the  road  had  to  zigzag  to  climb  its  way  up. 

Farther  up  the  air  grows  colder.  At  two  miles  we  pass 
through  a  rainstorm,  and  later  on  are  surrounded  by  snow. 
Now  the  mist  and  clouds  have  come  down  about  us,  and 
we  are  enveloped  in  fog,  A  little  higher,  and  we  are 
above  the  clouds.     There  the  wind  is  carrying  the  clouds 


UP    THE    ANDES.  71 

down  the  Andes,  the  air  becomes  clear,  and  we  shudder  at 
the  precipices  along  which  the  track  crawls. 

Now  we  are  on  the  tops  of  the  Andes.  That  white 
peak  above  us  is  Mount  Meiggs.  Its  summit  is  more 
than  seventeen  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  and  where  we 
stop  at  the  entrance  to  the  Galera  tunnel,  going  through 
the  mountain,  we  are  three  miles  higher  up  in  the  air  than 
when  we  started  this  morning. 

We  are  on  the  highest  railroad  point  in  the  world,  far 
above  the  height  of  Fujiyama,  the  sacred  snow  capped 
mountain  of  Japan.  We  are  about  as  high  up  as  Mont 
Blanc  or  any  point  in  Europe,  and  a  thousand  feet  higher 
than  Pikes  Peak  or  any  other  mountain  in  the  United 
States  outside  Alaska.  There  is  a  blue  glacier  hanging 
over  us  on  the  top  of  Mount  Meiggs,  and  right  under  it, 
in  the  middle  of  the  tunnel,  is  a  place  where  the  waters 
flowing  to  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  divide.  We  go  in  and 
take  a  drink  from  the  stream  at  the  side  of  the  railroad, 
which  is  trickling  on  its  way  to  the  Rimac  river  and  the 
Pacific,  and  then  by  a  jump  reach  a  place  where  we  bend 
over  and  scoop  up  some  water  which  is  about  starting 
down  the  east  slope  of  the  Andes  into  one  of  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  Amazon,  on  its  way  to  the  Atlantic. 

We  walk  farther  on  through  the  tunnel  to  the  eastern 
slope  of  the  Andes.  There  are  snow  banks  outside  at  the 
edge  of  the  tunnel,  and  we  start  a  snow  fight  away  up  here 
in  the  clouds.  We  are  soon  glad  to  stop.  The  air  is  so 
rare  that  every  throw  sends  our  hearts  into  our  throats,  and 
we  pant  for  breath.  We  try  to  yell,  but  our  voices  are 
weak  from  the  thinness  of  the  air,  and  the  yell  ends  in  a 
squeak.  Our  boots  grow  suddenly  heavy.  We  walk 
slowly,  and  in  climbing  the  hills  we  crawl.  Some  of  us 
are  attacked  with  the  mountain  sickness,  which  comes  to 


n 


PERU. 


Entrance  to  the  Galera  Tunnel. 

many  when  they  first  go  so  high  up  in  the  air.  We  have 
terrible  headaches,  and  at  the  same  time  feel  severe  nausea. 
During  our  first  night  in  the  mountains  we  cannot  sleep. 
Some  of  us  faint  away,  and  blood  flows  from  our  mouths, 
eyes,  and  noses.  The  sickness  soon  passes  off,  however, 
and  we  then  enjoy  the  strange  sights  and  pure  air  of  the 
Andes. 

IX.     ON   THE    ROOF    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


WE  start  southward  this  morning  upon  the  high  plateau 
of  the  Andes.  The  cold  air  bites  our  noses.  There 
are  snowy  mountains  on  each  side  of  us.  We  are  on  what 
might  be  called  the  roof  of  the  South  American  conti- 


ON   THE    ROOF    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


n 


nent.  The  Andes  are  among  the  highest  mountains  of  the 
globe.  They  have  several  peaks  which  rise  more  than 
four  miles  above  the  sea.  We  saw  some  of  the  greatest 
of  them  in  Ecuador,  and  we  shall  travel  among  others  on 
our  way  south  through  Pem  and  Bolivia. 


Peru  and  Bolivia. 


The  highest  of  the  Andes  is  Mount  Aconcagua  (a-con- 
ca'gua),  in  Chile.  It  is  23,910  feet  high.  Beginning  with 
it  and  running  northward  to  Ecuador,  the  mountains  ex 
tend  in  an  irregular  double  chain,  upholding  this  lofty 
plateau  upon  which  we  now  are.  The  plateau  in  some 
parts  of  Peru  is  five  hundred  miles  wide,  and  much  of  it  is 
about  two  miles  and  a  half  above  the  sea. 

We  are  many  days  riding  on  horseback  upon  it  to  Bo- 
livia. Now  and  then  we  make  excursions  into  the  hills, 
to  the  camps  where  men  are  mining  for  silver  and  gold. 
The  Andes  of  this  region  are  noted  for  their  mineral  de- 


74  PERU. 

posits,  and  great  quantities  of  the  precious  metals  are  taken 
out  of  them  every  year. 

We  spend  the  most  of  the  time,  however,  upon  the  pla- 
teau. We  ride  on  and  on  over  a  desolate  plain  covered 
with  a  scanty  growth  of  fuzzy  green  grass.  How  it  rains ! 
This  is  the  winter  season.  We  have  a  storm  of  hail,  snow, 
or  rain  almost  every  day.  The  grass  is  soaked  with  water, 
which  it  holds  hke  a  sponge,  and  we  cannot  get  down 
^rom  our  horses  without  wetting  our  feet. 

There  are  few  trees.  The  little  mud  huts  which  we  see 
have  small  patches  of  potatoes,  green  barley,  or  quinua 
(keen'wa)  about  them. 

This  plateau  is  the  natural  home  of  the  potato.  It  was 
taken  from  here  to  Europe,  and  is  said  to  have  been  first 
introduced  into  Italy  about  seventy  years  after  Columbus 
discovered  America.  Later  on  potatoes  were  cultivated 
extensively  in  Ireland,  so  many  being  used  there  that  they 
are  sometimes  called  Irish  potatoes.  The  potatoes  we  see 
here  are  very  small.  Most  of  them  are  not  bigger  than 
walnuts.  It  takes  a  milder  climate  and  richer  soil  to  make 
them  grow  to  the  size  of  the  large  potatoes  sold  in  our 
markets. 

We  are  so  high  up  that  barley  will  not  ripen.  That  which 
we  see  is  grown  for  forage.  The  quinua,  to  a  certain 
extent,  takes  the  place  of  other  grains  in  these  highlands. 
It  is  a  plant  which  looks  much  like  dockweed.  It  has 
yellow  or  red  leaves,  and  its  seeds  when  shelled  out  are 
white.  They  are  like  hominy  ground  fine.  Quinua  is 
eaten  as  mush  and  is  cooked  in  stews. 

There  are  also  dandelions  and  other  hardy  flowers  on 
the  plains,  and  there  are  many  evergreen  bushes,  which 
grow  only  as  tall  as  our  ankles,  for  all  things  are  stunted 
here  away  up  in  the  air. 


ON    THE    ROOF    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


75 


What  are  those  queer  animals  we  see  in  the  pastures? 
We  now  and  then  meet  droves  of  them  going  along  with 
bags  on  their  backs.  They  are  bigger  than  sheep,  but 
they  look  not  unlike  them,  for  they  are  covered  with  wool. 
They  have  long  necks,  with  heads  like  a  camel's.     Their 


Llamas. 

feet  and  legs  are  like  those  of  a  deer.  See  how  gracefully 
they  walk.  Notice  how  they  hold  their  little  heads  in  the 
air,  pricking  up  their  ears  as  they  see  us,  for  all  the  world 
like  so  many  Skye  terriers.  Those  are  llamas,  the  odd  little 
animals  which  act  as  beasts  of  burden  upon  this  highland. 

Are  they  not  beautiful?  Some  are  snow  white,  some 
seal  brown,  and  a  few  black  and  spotted.  Their  wool  is 
long.  It  is  used  by  the  Indians  to  make  ponchos,  blankets, 
and  clothes. 

Let  us  examine  the  llamas  more  closely.  Take  this 
drove  which    is    coming   toward    us,   each    little    animal 


^t  PERU. 

carrying  a  bag  of  silver  ore  on  his  back.  Notice  how 
small  the  loads  are.  Each  load  weighs  just  one  hundred 
pounds.  The  llama  is  very  particular  as  to  how  much  he 
does,  and  that  is  the  biggest  load  he  will  stand.  If  you 
put  on  more  he  will  not  cry  or  groan,  as  the  camel  does, 
but  will  calmly  kneel  down  and  not  move  until  his  load  is 
made  right. 

Look  out !  Don't  stroke  that  beast  over  there !  Don't 
you  see  he  is  angry  by  the  way  he  is  shaking  his  head  ? 

And  do  llamas  bite  ? 

They  do  not  bite,  but  when  they  are  angry  they  spit, 
and  I  would  rather  have  three  camels  bite  me  than  be  spat 
upon  by  one  llama.  A  llama's  spittle  has  the  most  offen- 
sive of  smells.  The  little  beast  chews  its  cud  like  a  cow. 
It  has  a  special  place  somewhere  in  its  body  which  is  well 
filled  with  fluid  for  such  an  occasion.  If  once  hit  you  will 
find  it  hard  to  get  the  stench  out  of  your  clothes,  and  you 
cannot  go  on  with  our  party  until  you  have  had  a  bath 
and  a  change.  Most  of  the  llamas,  however,  ^re  gentle, 
and  we  fall  in  love  with  them  as  we  see  them  everywhere 
on  the  plains. 

But  are  these  little  llamas  on  the  pastures  through  which 
we  are  riding?  Some  are  black,  and  some  are  snow  white. 
No ;  those  are  not  llamas,  although  they  look  like  them. 
They  are  alpacas,  a  domestic  animal  which  is  valued  for 
its  long,  silky  wool.  The  wool  is  straighter  and  stronger 
than  sheep's  wool.  It  is  used  for  shawls,  fine  clothes,  and 
umbrellas,  and  much  of  it  goes  from  Peru  to  our  country. 

The  vicuna  (ve-coon'ya)  is  an  animal  of  much  the  same 
species,  which  runs  wild  in  these  regions.  We  may  have 
a  chance  to  shoot  one  later  on.  It  runs  like  a  deer  and  is 
very  wary.  Vicuna  fur  is  like  yellow  velvet,  and  we  can 
buy  rugs  of  it  in  the  stores  of  the  Bolivian  cities.     Still 


ON    THE    ROOF    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


n 


farther  south  we  shall  see  the  guanaco,  which  also  looks 
like  the  llama.  It  has  yellow-and-white  fur  about  as 
long  as  that  of  a 
rabbit. 

In  our  journey 
we  now  and  then 
cross  high  val- 
leys which  cut 
through  the  pla- 
teau. Here  the 
cHmate  is  milder, 
and  we  find  all 
kinds  of  semi- 
tropical  fruits. 
In  one  of  these 
valleys  Cuzco 
(koos'k5),  the 
capital  of  the  In- 
cas,  was  located. 
The  town  was  situated  at  a  place  where  three  rivers  meet, 
at  more  than  two  miles  above  the  sea.  There  is  a  small 
city  standing  on  the  same  site  to-day.  We  see  here  the 
ruins  of  the  great  temples  which  the  Spaniards  found  in 
the  days  of  Pizarro.  Then  Cuzco  was  the  chief  city  of 
the  great  nation  of  civilized  Indians  which  inhabited  almost 
the  whole  of  western  South  America.  It  was  a  grand 
city,  and  some  of  its  temples  were  plated  with  gold.  The 
Spaniards  tore  seven  hundred  gold  plates,  each  as  big  as 
the  lid  of  a  large  chest,  from  the  walls  of  the  Temple  of 
the  Sun,  and  when  they  left  after  their  first  visit  their  horses 
were  loaded  with  gold. 

At  that  time  the  plateau  was  quite  thickly  populated. 
It  is  still  so  to-day.      Cuzco  itself  has  about  twenty  thou- 


VicufTa. 


78 


PERU. 


sand  inhabitants,  and  most  of  the  people  of  Peru  live  in 
these  plains  between  the  two  ranges  of  mountains. 

We  are  surprised  to  see  so  many  Indians.  In  Cuzco 
there  are  twelve  Indians  to  one  white  man,  and  on  our 
way  down  the  plateau  we  meet  many  queer-looking 
Indian  men,  women,  and  children. 
They  are  in  their  bare  feet,  and  they 
wear  an  odd  dress. 

The  men  have  on  bright-colored 
ponchos,  black  vests,  and  wide  black 
trousers  slit  up  as  far  as  the  knee  at 
the  back.  Each  wears  a  bright  woolen, 
cap,  knit  much  like  a  nightcap,  with 
flaps  down  over  the  ears.  Over  the 
cap  he  has  a  little  felt  hat,  which  seems 
to  be  more  for  ornament  than  warmth. 
The  Indian  women  wear  black  or  blue 
woolen  skirts  which  are  quite  short, 
reaching  just  below  the  knees.  They 
have  queerly  shaped  hats  with  low 
crowns  and  broad  brims.  We  see 
many  of  them  in  the  fields,  watching 
the  llamas,  alpacas,  and  sheep.  They  are  very  industri- 
ous. Each  has  a  long  spool  of  wool  in  her  hand,  and  she 
spins  llama  wool  as  she  watches  her  flock. 

We  meet  more  Indians  as  we  go  on  toward  Lake  Titi- 
caca,  and  we  shall  see  their  mud  villages  everywhere 
during  our  journeys  on  the  high  plateau  of  Bolivia.  They 
belong  to  the  two  tribes,  the  Quichua  (ke-choo'a)  and 
Aymara  (i-ma-ra^),  the  same  tribes  which  were  here  when 
the  Spaniards  first  came.  Even  now  they  number  more 
than  a  million. 

They  are  queer  people,  and  have  habits  and  ways  of 


Indian  Water  Carrier. 


ON   THE    ROOF    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


79 


their  own.  Most  of  them  are  little  more  than  slaves  to 
the  white  and  mixed  races  who  own  the  most  of  the  lands. 
Each  farm  has  a  little  colony  of  Indians  upon  it,  and  each 
Indian  family  has  its  mud  hut.  Throughout  the  whole 
year   the    Indians   work   three   days  each   week   for   the 


Each  Indian  family  has  its  mud  hut.' 


owner  of  the  land,  as  rent  for  their  little  huts  and  the 
small  patches  of  ground  about  them.  The  remaining 
three  days  they  have  for  themselves.  If  their  master  does 
not  want  their  work,  he  can  hire  them  out  to  others,  and 
if  they  do  not  obey  he  can  punish  them. 

The  Indians  are  very  docile,  and  will  bear  much  with- 
out getting  angry.  It  is  said  they  love  their  masters 
and  will  band  together  to  fight  for  them.  The  Indians  of 
the  different  farms  often  have  quarrels,  and  at  such  times 


8o 


PERU. 


each  band  marches  upon  the  other  as  though  in  actual 
warfare.  They  sometimes  use  guns,  but  more  often  slings, 
with  which  they  throw  stones  with  great  force  and  skill, 
sometimes  killing  one  another  in  their  fights. 

Let  us  enter  an  Indian  hut.  The  one  we  select  would 
hardly  make  a  respectable  pigsty  for  one  of  our  farms. 
It  is  of  mud,  and  is  not  more  than  ten  feet  square.  Its 
thatched  roof  is  so  low  that  we  can  touch  it  when  we 
stand  outside  the  front  door,  and  as  we  go  in  we  have  to 
stoop  down,  besides  Hfting  our  feet  up  as  high  as  a  chair 
to  get  over  the  mud  sill  and  through  the  hole  which  serves 
as  an  entrance.  Inside  there  is  only  about  enough  space 
in  which  to  turn  round.  One  side 
of  the  room  is  filled  with  farm  tools. 
On  the  other  side  is  a  donkey,  and 
the  chickens  squawk  as  they  run 
here  and  there  to  get  out  of  our 
way.  There  is  little  furniture.  The 
people  sit  on  the  floor.  They  often 
sleep  sitting,  huddling  themselves 
close  together  for  warmth. 

That  little  clay  pot  over  there 
with  the  ashes  beneath  it  is  the 
stove.  The  hut  has  no  chimney, 
and  the  smoke  finds  its  way  out  as 
it  can.  The  cooking  is  simple.  A 
favorite  dish  is  challona  stew,  with 
chuiio  (choon'yo),  or  frozen  pota- 
toes, mixed  with  it.  Challona  is 
dried  mutton.  The  sheep  is  split 
open  when  killed,  and  then  left  out 
to  freeze.  When  it  is  stiff,  water  is  sprinkled  over  it,  and  it 
is  frozen  again.     It  is  then  hung  up  and  dried,  after  which 


Indian  with  Sling. 


STEAMBOATING  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS.       8 1 

it  becomes  so  tough  that  it  will  keep  for  months.  It  must, 
however,  be  cut  up  in  small  bits  and  boiled  a  long  time 
before  it  is  tender;  then  the  natives  think  it  is  delicious. 
We  find  chuno  for  sale  in  the  markets  of  Cuzco,  and  we 
can  buy  it  everywhere  on  the  high  plateau  of  the  Andes. 
It  looks  like  bits  of  bleached  bones,  or  perhaps  more  like 
the  large  flat  pebbles  you  find  on  the  seashore.  It  is 
really  potatoes  which  are  frozen  and  dried,  so  that  they 
can  be  kept  for  a  year  without  spoiling.  The  raw  pota- 
toes are  first  soaked  in  water,  being  wet  every  day,  and 
left  out  at  night  until  they  freeze.  Next  the  skins  are 
trodden  off  with  the  bare  feet,  and  the  potatoes  are  thor- 
oughly dried  in  the  air.  They  are  now  as  white  as  snow 
and  as  hard  as  rock.  They  are  soaked  before  cooking, 
and  are  usually  served  as  a  stew.  We  eat  some,  but  they 
are  rather  insipid. 


3>0<C 


X.  STEAMBOATING  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS. 

STEAMBOATING  above  the  clouds!  Floating  over 
some  of  the  highest  waters  of  the  globe !  Sailing  in 
sight  of  glacial  snows  amid  the  tops  of  the  Andes,  so  near 
the  sky  that  heaven  and  earth  seem  to  meet  close  around 
us,  and  make  us  think  we  are  on  the  very  roof  of  the  world ! 
We  are  outside  the  harbor  of  Puno  (poo'no),  on  the  broad 
waters  of  Lake  Titicaca. 

The  air  is  so  clear  we  can  see  for  miles.  That  blue 
mass  in  front  is  Titicaca  Island.  It  will  take  us  four 
hours  to  steam  to  it,  but  it  looks  quite  near  as  it  lies  there 
like  a  great  blue  balloon  on  the  water.  There  are  other 
masses  of  blue  here  and  there.     There  are   altogether 


82 


PERU. 


eight  large  islands  in  the  lake,  some  of  which  are  inhabited. 
Now  we  are  steaming  by  one.  See,  the  bits  of  land  be- 
tween the  rocks  are  green  with  scanty  crops  of  potatoes, 
barley,  and  quinua.     The  soil  is  cultivated  to  the  tops  of 


Indians  in  Balsas,  Lake  Titicaca. 

the  hills,  and  red-faced  Indians  are  at  work  in  the  fields. 
Their  huts  of  stone  and  thatch  are  down  near  the  shore. 
Some  have  llamas,  sheep,  and  donkeys  tethered  about 
them. 

How  grand  are  the  mountains  1  There  is  nothing  finer 
in  the  Himalayas  or  the  Alps  than  the  snowy  peaks  which 
rise  above  us.  That  silvery  mass  to  the  north  is  Sorata 
(so-ra'ta),  next  to  Aconcagua  the  highest  of  the  Andes. 
The  great  wall  of  mountains  which  stretches  from  it  south 
there  to  the  east  is  the  Sorata  range,  and  that  tall  peak 


STEAMBOATING  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS.       83 

rising  high  over  the  others  is  lUimani  (el-ye-ma'ne),  which 
is  about  four  miles  in  height. 

This  lake  upon  which  we  are  floating  is  higher  up  in  the 
air  than  most  of  the  mountain  tops  in  our  country.  Is  it 
not  a  wonderful  body  of  water?  It  is  almost  half  as  large 
as  Lake  Ontario,  and  it  lies  here  twice  as  high  as  the  top 
of  Mount  Washington.  Those  little  huts  we  see  on  the 
islands  are  among  the  highest  houses  in  the  world  in 
which  people  Hve,  and  this  is  really  the  loftiest  of  all  lakes 
upon  which  steamboats  sail. 

But  where  does  the  lake  come  from,  and  where  does  it 
go  ?  We  can  easily  see  its  source  by  looking  at  the  snows 
and  glaciers  about  us.  It  is  made  by  the  snow  water  of 
nine  rivers  from  the  Andean  peaks,  which  flow  into  it. 
Where  the  water  all  goes  is  not  known.  The  lake  re- 
mains at  about  the  same  level  from  one  year's  end  to  the 
other,  although  it  has  no  visible  outlet  to  the  sea.  A 
part  of  its  waters  go  into  the  river  Desaguadero  (das-a- 
gwa-da'ro)  and  on  into  a  lake  of  the  same  name,  or,  as  it 
is  called  in  Bolivia,  Lake  Poo'po.  Lake  Poopo  has  no 
outlet  that  can  be  seen. 

But  let  us  take  a  look  at  our  ship.  It  is  carrying  us 
over  Lake  Titicaca  at  twelve  miles  an  hour.  It  is  as 
beautiful  as  a  gentleman's  yacht.  It  is  named  the  Choya^ 
and  when  we  look  at  the  engine  we  find  there  is  a  plate 
stating  that  the  ship  was  built  away  off  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland. 

This  seems  very  strange.  How  could  they  possibly  get 
such  a  big  ship  over  the  Andes?  The  Choya  weighs  so 
much  that  if  it  could  be  loaded  on  wagons  a  thousand 
horses  could  not  pull  it.  How  could  they  possibly  lift 
such  a  weight  over  these  mountains,  which  everywhere 
in  Peru  are  almost  as  high  as  Pikes  Peak? 


84 


PERU. 


Of  course  they  could  not  if  they  tried  to  lift  the  ship 
all  at  once.  But  such  a  vessel  was  needed  for  commerce, 
and  commerce  works  in  all  sorts  of  ways  to  secure  its 
own  ends.  All  of  its  parts  were  put  on  a  steamer  and 
brought  from  Glasgow  around  through  the  Strait  of 
Magellan  to  the  seaport  Mollendo,  in  southern  Peru. 


"  Let  us  take  a  look  at  our  ship." 


At  Mollendo  there  is  the  beginning  of  a  railroad  quite 
as  wonderful  as  that  upon  which  we  came  over  the  Andes 
from  Lima.  It  is  three  hundred  miles  long,  and  connects 
the  seacoast  with  Arequipa  (a-ra-ke'pa),  one  of  the  chief 
cities  of  Peru,  and  also  with  Puno,  on  Lake  Titicaca.  The 
parts  of  the  ship  were  put  on  the  car  at  Mollendo,  and  the 
engines  puffed  as  they  carried  them  over  the  Andes. 


STEAMBOATING  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS.      85 

At  Puno  they  were  taken  off,  joined  together,  and 
launched  on  the  lake,  so  that  to-day  we  can  sail  upon 
these  high  waters  in  a  floating  house  made  in  Scotland. 
This  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  commerce. 

We  are  still  more  interested  when  the  engineer  tells  us 
that  the  coal  he  is  using  comes  from  Australia,  so  that 
both  sides  of  the  world  seem  to  be  working  to  help  us 
along  on  our  journey. 

When  we  examine  the  freight»on  the  Choya  we  see  how 
the  ship  has  become  one  of  the  agents  of  commerce.  We 
have  goods  from  different  parts  of  the  world  which  we  are 
carrying  to  Bolivia,  and  the  captain  tells  us  that  he  is  to 
bring  back  a  load  of  copper,  gold,  silver,  tin,  and  Peruvian 
bark,  to  be  sent  from  Puno  down  to  the  Pacific.  Who 
knows  but  that  some  of  that  copper  will  be  used  in  the 
same  works  in  Glasgow  where  the  steamer  was  made,  and 
whether  some  of  the  silver  and  gold  may  not  find  its  way 
to  Australia  to  pay  the  very  miners  who  have  furnished 
our  coal  ? 

Now  we  are  approaching  Chililaya  (che-li-la'ya),  the 
port  of  Bolivia.  We  see  many  boats  near  the  shore. 
Some  are  starting  out  to  bring  freight  to  the  steamer. 
What  queer  things  they  are!  They  appear  to  be  made 
of  straw,  but  men  are  working  upon  them,  and  there  is  one 
that  has  a  donkey  and  a  llama  on  board.  Some  have  straw 
sails,  and  others  are  being  poled  through  the  water.  Those 
boats  are  barsas,  a  curious  craft  used  by  the  Indians  of 
Lake  Titicaca.  They  are  just  like  the  boats  which  the 
Spaniards  found  these  people  using  centuries  ago. 

There  is  one  which  has  come  close  to  our  steamer.  It 
is  made  of  long  reeds,  which  grow  in  quantities  on  the 
edge  of  the  lake.  The  reeds  are  laid  together  and 
tied  tightly  in   rolls.     They  are  so  woven  and  fastened 


86 


PERU. 


that  they  form  a  raftlike  boat  which  will  float  on  the 
water. 

But  we  have  at  last  reached  the  wharf.  There  is  a 
crowd  of  Indians  ready  to  unload  the  steamer.  We  hand 
over  our  baggage  to  two  queer-looking  fellows,  and  walk 
with  them   to   the   shore.      Here  there   are   hundreds  of 


Inca  Ruins,  Lake  Titicaca. 


mules  with  goods  awaiting  shipment  to  Puno.  There  are 
droves  of  llamas  which  have  brought  in  packages  of  rubber 
and  coffee,  and  there  are  numerous  donkeys  carrying  the 
bark  from  which  quinine  is  made.  We  stop  a  moment, 
watching  the  drivers  unload  their  beasts,  and  then  walk  on 
up  the  hill  to  the  rude  little  hotel  where  we  have  to  stay 
overnight. 


LA    PAZ»  87 


XI.     TRAVELS    IN    BOLIVIA. 

WHEN  we  land  at  Chililaya  we  are  in  Bolivia.  We  are 
just  forty-seven  miles  from  its  chief  city,  La  Paz. 
We  take  a  stage  drawn  by  eight  mules  for  the  journey. 
We  go  on  the  gallop  all  day  long,  stopping  only  to  change 
mules  every  three  hours.  We  sit  outside  with  the  driver. 
He  is  an  Indian.  He  has  a  little  pile  of  stones  beside  him, 
from  which  he  now  and  then  makes  a  good  throw  at  the 
long  ears  of  such  of  the  animals  as  are  lagging  behind. 

The  ride  is  delightful.  The  air  is  always  bracing  on 
the  high  plateau  of  Bolivia.  It  is  so  clear  we  can  see  for 
miles.  To  the  east  is  a  great  wall  of  snow  mountains, 
with  Illimani  rising  above  the  rest  of  the  peaks,  and  away 
off  to  the  west  are  lower  hills,  which  seem  to  climb  over 
one  another  and  finally  end  in  snow  at  the  sky.  Now  we 
pass  a  mud  hut,  and  now  a  flock  of  llamas,  alpacas,  or 
sheep,  feeding  on  the  thin  grass ;  but  other  than  this  there 
is  nothing  about  us  but  the  sky,  the  plains,  and  the  moun- 
tains. 

As  we  near  the  close  of  the  day  we  look  for  the  city  to 
which  we  are  going.  We  are  hungry,  and  wonder  whether 
we  shall  get  there  before  dark,  when  at  last  the  driver 
pulls  up  the  mules  on  their  haunches,  and  the  stage  stops. 
We  are  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  and  there  a  thousand 
feet  below  us,  in  a  little  gorge  in  the  mountains,  is  the 
curious  city  of  La  Paz. 

It  is  so  far  down  that  we  can  hardly  distinguish  the 
houses.  They  look  like  a  jumble  of  bright-colored  bo^es, 
with  trees  here  and  there  rising  out  above  their  red  roofs. 
They  grow  plainer  as  we  gallop  on  our  winding  way  down 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 6 


88 


BOLIVIA. 


the  steep  slopes  of  the  hill.  We  are  soon  riding  between 
walled  gardens,  and  at  last  the  stage  stops  in  the  heart  of 
the  town. 

How  queer  it  all  is!  Most  of  the  people  about  us  are 
clad  in  the  brightest  of  reds,  blues,  and  greens.  Every 
other    man   wears    a    poncho,  or   blanket,  with  his   head 


La  Paz,  Bolivia. 

through  a  hole  in  its  center,  and  some  of  the  women  have 
striped  shawls,  bright-colored  short  skirts,  and  queerly 
shaped  hats.  Five  eighths  of  the  people  are  Indians,  and 
the  remainder  are  whites  and  of  the  mixed  race  of  Indians 
and  whites  called  cho'los. 

Even  the  houses  are  a  blaze  of  bright  colors.  Their 
walls  are  painted  in  the  most  delicate  tints  of  red,  blue, 
and  green.     There  is  a  lavender  grocery  store ;  ne^t  to  it 


LA    PAZ. 


89 


a  shoe  shop  of  rose  pink ;  and  farther  on  are  other  estab- 
Hshments  of  cream  and  sky  blue.  The  houses  are  of  one 
or  two  stories.  The  shops  are  open  to  the  street,  so  that 
we  can  see  all  that  goes  on  within. 

But  where  can  we  get  a  cab  or  dray  to  carry  our  bag- 
gage to  the  hotel  ?  There  are  none  in  sight,  and  we  learn 
there  are  none  in  La  Paz.  The  streets  are  so  narrow  and 
so  up  hill  and  down  that  no  vehicles  are  used  in  the  city, 
and  all  freighting  is  done  by  donkeys,  ponies,  llamas,  and 
men.  The  Indian  porters  will  carry  our  boxes.  There  are 
a  dozen  porters  about  the  stage  office.  We  give  each  man 
a  trunk,  and  he  trots  off  to 
the  hotel  up  the  hills  with 
the  trunk  on  his  back,  while 
we  walk  behind. 

The  next  morning  we  start 
out  for  a  tour  of  the  city,  go- 
ing up  the  hills  very  slowly, 
for  the  air  is  so  thin  that  we 
are  soon  out  of  breath. 

We  visit  the  markets.  It  is 
early  morning,  but  the  streets 
are  filled  with  buyers  and 
sellers,  with  Indians,  cholos, 
and  whites,  dressed  in  all 
colors  of  the  rainbow.  ^     _ 

There  are  scores  of  Indian  ----^oi-^i^  -^-— - 

women    carrying    fruit    and  Coo  Girl, 

vegetables  to  the  markets  for  sale.  Their  burdens  are  tied 
up  in  striped  blankets  of  blue,  red,  yellow,  and  green,  and 
they  bend  half  double  as  they  walk  onward.  They  squat 
down  on  the  streets  and  spread  their  wares  out  before 
them,  peddling  them  by  the  piece  or  the  pile. 


90 


BOLIVIA. 


There  are  Indian  men  wearing  bright  ponchos,  and  such 
a  lot  of  Indian  babies  that  we  have  to  pick  our  way  care- 
fully to  keep  from  treading  upon  them.     Some  lie  on  the 

cold  stones  and  play 
with  the  merchan- 
dise their  mothers 
are  selling.  Some 
are  too  young  to 
crawl,  and  their  big 
eyes  peep  out  of  the 
shawls  in  which  they 
are  tied  to  the  backs 
of  their  mothers. 
Most  of  the  babies 
are  laughing.  There 
is  one  crying,  and 
over  there  is  another 
which  has  crawled 
away  from  its  mother 
and  is  almost  under 


"The  Indian  porters  carry  our  boxes.' 

the  feet  of  those  llamas  which  are  coming  up  the  street. 
Now  its  mother  sees  it  and  runs  to  save  it. 

Stop  and  look  at  the  queer  things  for  sale  all  about  us. 
What  funny  potatoes!  Those  in  that  pile  are  not  bigger 
than  chestnuts,  and  they  are  as  pink  as  the  toes  of  the 
baby  who  is  playing  among  them.  There  are  some  of  a 
violet  color,  while  those  in  the  next  pile  are  as  black  as 
your  boots.  The  white  ones  beside  that  woman  over  the 
way  are  chuno,  and  have  been  frozen  for  sale. 

What  a  variety  of  fruits!  We  find  some  on  every 
corner,  and  the  market  is  filled  with  quinces,  peaches,  and 
pears,  as  well  as  oranges,  lemons,  and  pineapples.  The 
fruit  all  comes  from  the  lands  lower  down,  for  it  is  only  a 


LA    PAZ. 


91 


few  days'  ride  on  muleback  from  here  to  the  tropical  val- 
leys of  the  Andes,  and  there  are  all  kinds  of  climates 
farther  down  the  mountains,  and  all  kinds  of  fruits. 


Bolivian  Boys. 

What  are  those  big  green  bean  pods  that  woman  is  sell- 
ing? They  are  not  beans  at  all.  They  are  a  kind  of 
fruit  which  is  eaten  raw.  If  you  will  buy  one  and  break 
it  open  you  will  see  that  the  seeds  within  it  are  imbedded 
in  a  pulp  which  looks  like  spun  silk.  We  smack  our  lips 
as  we  cat  it,  for  when  it  is  cold  it  is  very  much  like  finely 
flavored  ice  cream. 

Is  this  not  a  wonderful  country  where  all  kinds  of  fruits 
grow  so  near  together?  Yes,  indeed;  BoHvia  is  naturally 
one  of  the  rich  countries  of  the  world.  In  the  eastern 
part  of  it,  below  the  plateau,  there  are  great  plains  upon 
which  vast  herds  of  cattle  are  feeding.     In  its  forests  there 


92 


BOLIVIA. 


are  rubber  trees,  from  which  the  sap  is  gathered  and 
shipped  down  the  Beni  and  Madeira  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Amazon,  whence  it  is  sent  all  over  the  world  to  be  used 
for  making  tires,  coats,  overshoes,  and  all  sorts  of  such 
things.  There  are  parts  of  Bolivia  that  have  never  been 
explored,  and  we  could  easily  ride  down  the  eastern  slopes 
of  the  mountains  and  come  into  a  region  inhabited  only 
by  the  most  savage  of  Indians. 

Some  of  the  wild  Indians  are  cannibals.  Some  go 
about  naked,  and  some  wear  plates  of  wood  and  metal  in 
the  lobes  of  their  ears,  each  plate  being  as  large  as  a  silver 
dollar.  Many  of  them  make  war  upon  white  men,  and 
some  use  blowguns,  with  which  they  shoot  poisoned  ar- 
rows at  their  enemies.  The  guns  are  reeds  from  ten  to 
twelve  feet  long,  and  the  sHghtest  scratch  of  one  of  the 
arrows  causes  immediate  death. 

On  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Andes,  by  a  very  short 
ride    on    muleback,  we  could    reach  the  Yungas   valley, 
where  there  are  plantations  of  coffee, 
coca,  and  cinchona  trees. 

Have  you  ever  heard  of  cinchona? 
Perhaps  not,  but  I  venture  every 
one  of  you  has  sometime  had  to  take 
quinine.  Quinine  is  the  bitter  white 
powder  made  from  the  bark  of  the  cin- 
chona tree.  It  is  especially  good  for 
malarial  fevers,  and  we  shall  need  some 
later  on  when  we  go  up  the  Amazon. 
We  see  loads  of  cinchona  bark  on 
the  streets  of  La  Paz.  That  little 
donkey  which  is  just  turning  the  corner  has  a  bundle  of  it 
on  each  side  of  his  back.  Other  donkeys  are  coming  be- 
hind him,  each  of  which  carries  a  load.     That  drove  is 


Cinchona 


LA    PAZ.  93 

bringing  the  bark  into  La  Paz.  Here  it  will  be  repacked 
and  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Let  us  go  and  pull  out  a  piece  of  the  bark  and  take  a 
bite  of  it.      How  bitter  it  is!      It  tastes  like  quinine. 

Bolivia  raises  some  of  the  best  cinchona,  although  ex- 
cellent cinchona  is  also  raised  in  Peru  and  all  along  the 
eastern  slopes  of  the  Andes  between  here  and  Colombia. 

Plantations  have  been  recently  started  for  raising  cin- 
chona trees.  Six  years  after  planting,  the  trees  are  cut 
down  and  their  bark  stripped  off  for  quinine.  At  this  age 
each  tree  will  produce  aboiit  four  pounds  of  bark.  The 
next  year  after  cutting,  sprouts  will  come  up  from  the 
stumps,  and  six  years  later  another  crop  is  ready  for  har- 
vest. 

The  most  of  the  quinine  of  commerce,  however,  comes 
from  wild  trees.  The  bark  we  tasted  on  the  streets  of  La 
Paz  was  gathered  from  the  forests  at  the  head  of  the  Beni 
river.  It  was  carried  through  the  woods  for  miles  on  the 
backs  of  Indians,  and  was  then  loaded  upon  the  donkeys 
which  brought  it  to  La  Paz. 

But  what  is  that  we  see  on  those  other  donkeys  which 
are  now  going  by  us?  The  bundles  are  of  about  the  same 
size  as  the  cinchona  bundles,  but  the  stuff  within  them 
looks  like  leaves.  That  is  coca  leaves,  from  which  cocaine, 
a  drug  used  to  deaden  pain,  is  made.  Dentists  often  put 
cocaine  in  a  sensitive  tooth  when  it  has  to  be  filled. 

Coca  is  also  used  by  the  Indians  on  the  Bolivian  pla- 
teau as  a  chew.  Every  Indian  we  meet  has  a  lump  of 
coca  inside  his  cheek,  and  men,  women,  and  children  are 
chewing  it  all  day  long.  The  Indians  in  the  mines  will  not 
work  unless  their  employers  give  them,  in  addition  to  their 
wages,  some  coca  to  chew  every  day,  and  all  of  the  Indians 
would  rather  have  coca  than  coffee,  tea,  or  tobacco. 


94 


BOLIVIA. 


Vast  quantities  of  it  are  produced  every  year,  and  are 
shipped  on  llamas  and  donkeys  to  all  parts  of  Bolivia,  to 
Peru,  and  to  Chile. 

You  must  not  confound  coca  with  chocolate,  or  cacao, 
which  is  sometimes  called  cocoa,  nor  with  the  cocoanut 
tree.     The  coca  plant  is  a  shrub  which  grows  from  four  to 


The  Alamada  or  Promenade,  La  Paz. 


six  feet  in  height.  It  has  leaves  much  like  our  winter- 
green  shrub.  They  are  very  stimulating,  and  the  Indians 
tell  us  that  chewing  coca  will  keep  out  the  cold  and  also 
satisfy  hunger. 

We  try  a  chew  ourselves,  putting  some  lime  with  it  as 
the  Indians  do.  The  leaves  taste  rather  bitter,  the  Hme 
burns  our  tongues,  and  as  the  habit  seems  very  disgusting, 
we  decide  to  leave  coca  alone. 


MINERAL  WEALTH. 


95 


XII.     THE    MINERAL  WEALTH    OF 
THE    ANDES. 


AT  La  Paz  we  are  not  far  from  some  of  the  richest  min- 
l\  ing  regions  of  the  world.  The  lofty  Andes  through- 
out their  whole  length,  from  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  to  the 
Strait  of  Magellan,  contain  some  gold.  The  Sorata  range, 
which  now  looks  down  upon  us,  has  rich  veins  of  tin, 
and  vast  quantities  of  copper  are  yearly  taken  out  of 
the  mountains  to  the 
north  and  to  the 
south. 

There  is  so  much 
gold  on  the  east  slope 
of  the  Peruvian  An- 
des that  during  the 
floods  the  streams 
wash  down  grains 
and  nuggets  of  gold. 
Many  of  the  streams 
are  dry  part  of  the 
year,  and  the  Indi- 
ans have  paved  them 
with  stones,  so  that 
the  heavy  gold  is 
caught  in  the  cracks 
when  it  drops.  The 
golden  grains  are 
thus  carried  down 
when  the  rivers  are 
high,  and  so  caught 


Hydraulic  Mining. 


96 


BOLIVIA. 


that  they  can  be  picked  up  when  the  streams  fall.  This 
was  one  of  the  gold-mining  methods  of  the  Incas,  and  it 
was  thus  that  much  of  the  gold  which  the  Spaniards  took 
from  them  was  gathered. 

We  see  men  washing  gold  in  many  places  as  we  ride 
through  Bolivia.  The  miners  are  Indians  employed  by 
the  white  men.     There  are  some  at  work  near  La  Paz. 

They  take  the  gravel  and 
dirt  to  the  sides  of  the 
streams,  and  roll  it  about 
in  wooden  bowls  as  big 
as  those  in  which  we 
knead  bread.  From  time 
to  time  they  dip  up  a 
little  water  into  the  bowl, 
and  shake  it  around  so 
that  all  the  dirt  melts  into 
the  water  and  can  be 
poured  out. 

After  a  while  there  is 
nothing  but  the  gold  and 
the  gravel.  The  miners 
throw  the  gravel  away 
handful  by  handful,  first 
looking  it  carefully  over  and  dropping  back  into  the  bowl 
the  little  yellow  bits  which  they  see.  Finally  all  the  gravel 
has  been  thrown  out,  and  there  is  left  a  little  pile  of  yellow 
pebbles  and  grains,  some  of  which  are  not  bigger  than  the 
end  of  a  needle.  This  is  the  gold.  Such  methods  of  min- 
ing are  wasteful,  for  much  of  the  gold  dust  is  so  small  that 
the  grains  cannot  be  seen.  It  is  only  lately  that  mercury 
and  other  modern  means  which  we  employ  to  collect  gold 
have  been  much  used. 


Washing  Gold. 


MINERAL  WEALTH.  97 

When  we  visit  the  silver  mines,  we  find  that  most  of  the 
work  there  is  done  with  rude  tools.  In  the  older  mines  the 
Indians  use  hammers  and  drills  to  break  up  the  ore.  They 
carry  it  out  of  the  mines  on  their  backs  in  sacks  of  rawhide. 

Silver  is  found  in  veins  of  ore  in  the  rocks,  and  these 
veins  often  extend  far  down  under  the  earth.  Some  of 
the  mines  are  hence  very  deep.  The  Indians  climb  out 
of  them  upon  ladders  or  notched  sticks,  with  heavy  sacks 
of  ore  on  their  backs.  They  work  almost  naked,  wearing 
only  breechcloths  about  their  waists,  singing  weird  songs 
as  they  dig  out  the  ore.     ^ 

After  the  ore  is  taken  from  the  mines  it  is  broken  up 
into  small  pieces  with  hammers  by  women  and  children. 
The  best  of  it  is  then  ground  to  powder  by  rolling  great 
stones  over  it.  The  powder  is  mixed  with  mercury,  which 
dissolves  the  silver  out  of  the  dust,  and  by  other  chemical 
processes  it  is  then  made  ready  for  the  use  of  man. 

Some  of  the  richest  silver  mines  of  the  world  are  in 
the  Andes.  A  Httle  north  of  Mount  Meiggs,  where  we 
crossed  the  coast  range  in  Peru,  is  the  town  of  Cerro 
de  Pasco,  built  about  one  of  the  richest  bodies  of  silver  ore 
ever  known.  This  body  was  about  a  mile  long  and  more 
than  half  a  mile  wide. 

The  mine  was  discovered  several  hundred  years  ago,  in 
a  curious  way.  An  Indian  shepherd  had  wandered  to  this 
place  one  day  with  his  flock.  He  found  the  air  very  cold 
as  evening  drew  on,  and  kindled  a  fire,  before  which  he  lay 
down  to  sleep.  When  he  awoke  the  next  morning  he 
discovered  that  the  stone  upon  which  his  fire  had  been 
built  had  melted  and  turned  to  silver.  Since  then  thou- 
sands of  tons  of  pure  silver  have  been  taken  out  of  that 
spot,  and  many  of  the  llamas  we  saw  on  our  way  to  Mount 
Meiggs  loaded  with  silver  had  come  from  Cerro  de  Pasco. 


98 


BOLIVIA. 


Bags  of  Silver. 


There  are  other  rich  silver  regions  in  different  parts  of 
Peru,  and  in  the  BoHvian  highlands  there  is  a  strip  of 
country,  wider  than  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  and  as  long 
as  the  distance  from  Philadelphia  to  Omaha,  which  is 
dotted  with  silver  mines. 

Bolivia  has  perhaps  given  more  silver  to  the  world  than 
any  other  country.  It  has  a  mountain  called  Potosi  (po- 
to'si),  out  of  which  has  been  taken  almost  three  billion 
dollars'  worth  of  silver — so  much  that,  could  it  have  been 
melted  up  and  made  into  teaspoons,  it  would  have  fur- 
nished enough  to  have  given  two  solid  silver  spoons  to 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  upon  the  globe. 

A  ride  of  three  days  from  La  Paz  over  the  plateau 
brings  us  to  the  town  of  Oruro  (o-roo'ro),  a  few  miles  from 
Lake  Poopo.  Oruro  has  twelve  thousand  people.  It  lies 
at  the  foot  of  rocky  mountains,  and  it  is  almost  surrounded 
by  mines  which  contain  rich  veins  of  silver  and  tin. 


MINERAL  WEALTH. 


99 


Tin  mines  are  not  so  common  in  the  world  as  mines  of 
silver  and  gold,  but  tin  is  of  such  a  character  that  a  little 
of  it  goes  a  great  way.  It  is  largely  used  as  a  coating  for 
sheets  of  iron,  to  protect  them  from  rust.  The  tin  cups, 
pans,  and  pails,  and  other  such  things  which  we  use  are 
made  of  tin  plate,  which  is  merely  iron  plated  with  tin. 

The  only  mines  which  gave  much  tin  to  the  world  until 
within  about  two  hundred  years  were  those  of  southern 
England.  The  mines  there  are  still  worked,  but  Great  Brit- 
ain uses  so  much  tin  that  this  is  not  nearly  enough,  and 
she  imports  a  great  deal  from  far-away  lands.  It  is  the 
same  with  the  other  countries  of  Europe,  and  also  with  the 
United  States.  Just  now  a  great  deal  of  tin  comes  from 
the  Strait  of  Malacca,  from  different  parts  of  Australia,  and 
from-  the  rich  mines  which  we  find  in  Peru  and  Bolivia. 

We  spend  some  time  in  the  tin  mines  of  Oruro.     They 


Breaking  up  Tin  Ore. 


lOO  CHILE. 

are  noted  for  the  fine  quality  of  their  ore.  It  looks  to  us 
much  like  silver.  Much  of  it  does  contain  silver.  We 
learn  that  both  silver  and  tin  are  often  found  mixed  to- 
gether in  the  same  vein. 

The  ore  is  dug  from  the  rocks  with  hammers  and  drills. 
It  is  broken  to  pieces  and  then  ground  to  powder.  It  is 
next  put  into  a  furnace  with  other  materials,  and  melted 
through  a  process  called  smelting.  After  this,  when  the 
furnace  is  opened,  all  the  rock  and  dirt  passes  off,  and  the 
pure  tin  flows  away  in  a  bright,  silverlike  stream.  It  is 
run  into  molds,  each  of  which  contains  fifty  pounds.  The 
molds  soon  cool,  forming  the  bricks  of  tin  which  are 
shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 


3>»^< 


XIII.     ON   THE    NITRATE    DESERT   AND 
THE    GUANO    ISLANDS. 

PUT  on  your  dark  spectacles  this  morning.  You  will 
need  them  to  protect  your  eyes  from  the  sun,  for  we 
are  about  to  travel  again  over  the  glaring  sands  of  the 
desert.  The  country  about  Oruro  is  sterile  enough,  but 
the  lands  through  which  we  must  pass  on  our  way  down 
to  the  sea  are  among  the  most  barren  parts  of  the  world. 

We  take  the  little  narrow  gauge  railroad,  which  was 
built  to  bring  the  tin  and  silver  and  other  things  of  Lower 
Bolivia  to  the  sea,  and  shoot  out  into  vast  plains,  upon 
which  everything  looks  gray,  bare,  and  forbidding.  Now 
we  cross  fields  of  salt  which  dazzle  our  eyes  under  the 
glare  of  the  sun,  and  go  into  regions  of  volcanic  rock  upon 
which  nothing  green  grows. 

We  go  by  two  large  blue  lakes,  near  the  shores  of  which 


NITRATE    DESERT.  lOI 

are  what  look  like  great  cakes  of  ice.  Our  lips  are  dry 
and  parched,  and  we  long  for  a  drink.  The  train  stops  at 
a  station,  and  we  ask  the  conductor  if  some  of  the  ice 
cannot  be  brought  into  the  car.  The  conductor  replies 
that  the  white  stuff  is  not  ice  at  all.  He  says  it  is  borax, 
and  that  the  water  of  the  lake  is  not  fit  to  drink. 

He  brings  us  a  lump  of  borax  from  a  pile  which  has 
just  arrived  at  the  station  to  be  sent  off  to  Europe.  It 
looks  like  the  finest  spun  silk  wadded  up  or  woven  into  a 
lump,  and  he  tells  us  that  it  is  used  in  making  beads,  glass, 
and  cement,  and  for  glazing  pottery  ware.  It  is  also*  of 
value  in  preserving  meat,  fish,  and  milk,  and  forms  a  part 
of  some  kinds  of  medicines.  It  is  good  for  sore  eyes,  and 
is  very  cleansing  as  a  wash  for  the  hair. 

The  body  of  water  at  which  we  are  looking  is  the  great 
borax  lake  of  Ascotan',  out  of  which  thousands  of  tons 
of  borax  are  taken  each  year  and  shipped  to  all  parts  of 
the  world.  The  borax  crystallizes  in  the  waters  of  the 
lake,  and  gathers  in  a  crust  on  the  edges  or  falls  to  the 
bottom.  It  is  produced  by  certain  materials  in  the  vol- 
canic soil  about  it,  or  perhaps  by  vapor  which  bursts  up 
through  the  ground  from  the  volcanic  mountains  which 
are  found  in  this  part  of  Bolivia. 

Is  it  not  odd  that  such  things  should  come  out  of  the 
earth  ?  Yes,  indeed ;  but  as  we  go  farther  down  toward 
the  sea  we  shall  enter  a  region  in  Chile  which  is  even  more 
strange.  There  is  a  part  of  the  coast  desert  where  for 
hundreds  of  miles  the  sands  are  underlaid  with' a  great  bed 
of  nitrate  of  soda.  Nitrate  of  soda  is  a  salt  used  for 
making  nitric  acid  and  also  for  enriching  the  soil. 

We  use  vast  quantities  of  it  in  the  United  States,  and 
more  than  a  million  tons  are  shipped  from  this  desert  to 
Europe  every  year.     It  is  so  valuable  indeed  that  cities 


102  CHILE. 

have  grown  up  on  this  barren  coast,  inhabited  by  the 
people  who  dig  out  the  nitrate  of  soda  and  prepare  it  for 
sale.  Such  a  town  is  Antofagasta  (an-to-fa-gas'ta),  where 
we  end  our  railroad  journey  from  the  plateau  to  the  sea. 
It  contains  twenty-five  thousand  people,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  thriving  ports  on"  the  Pacific  coast  of  South  America. 

Making  our  way  through  the  nitrate  fields  to  the  north, 
we  come  to  a  still  larger  city,  Iquique  (e-ke'ka),  the  chief 
nitrate  port  of  the  world. 

What  a  queer  place  for  a  town !  Iquique  is  on  the  edge 
of  the  sea,  below  ragged  hills.  It  is  built  on  the  sand. 
There  is  not  a  blade  of  grass  in  the  country  about  it.  It 
has  not  a  drop  of  water  from  year's  end  to  year's  end, 
except  that  which  is  brought  to  it  in  ships  or  in  the  iron 
pipe,  seventy-five  miles  long,  which  connects  it  with  some 
springs  in  a  desert  oasis. 

Still,  it  is  a  thriving  little  city.  It  has  stores,  schools, 
newspapers,  telephones,  electric  lights,  and  street  cars. 
We  can  buy  anything  we  want  in  its  markets,  including 
the  most  delicious  fruits  and  the  best  of  fresh  meats. 
Such  things  are  brought  in  by  ships  from  other  parts  of 
the  coast,  and  from  nitrate  alone  comes  the  money  that 
pays  for  them  alL 

The  nitrate  is  found  on  the  east  side  of  a  low  range  of 
hills  from  fifteen  to  ninety  miles  back  from  the  sea.  It 
is  in  the  form  of  a  rocky  stratum  with  layers  of  salt  rock 
and  sand  above  it,  although  sometimes  it  lies  on  the  top 
of  the  ground.  It  is  not  known  just  how  it  was  formed. 
Some  people  suppose  that  the  desert  was  once  the  bed  of 
an  inland  sea,  and  that  vast  quantities  of  seaweed,  con- 
taining nitrogen,  having  been  covered  with  sand,  decayed, 
and,  under  the  peculiar  conditions  of  this  region,  became 
nitrate  of  soda. 


NITRATE    DESERT.  IO3 

In  getting  out  the  nitrate  rock  a  hole  about  a  foot  wide 
is  bored  down  through  the  sand,  salt  rock,  and  nitrate  to 
the  soft  earth  underneath.  A  small  boy  is  now  let  down 
into  the  hole.  He  scoops  a  pocket  out  of  the  earth  just 
under  the  stratum  of  nitrate,  and  fills  it  with  powder, 
inserting  a  fuse  which  extends  up  over  the  top. 


Nitrate  Fields. 

The  boy  is  then  pulled  out  and  the  fuse  lighted.  There 
is  a  loud  explosion.  A  cloud  of  yellow  smoke  and  dust 
goes  up  into  the  air,  and  the  earth  for  a  wide  distance 
about  is  broken  to  pieces.  The  nitrate  rock  is  now  dug 
out  with  picks  and  crowbars. 

It  must  be  further  treated,  however,  before  it  is  ready 
for  sale.  Pure  nitrate  of  soda  is  not  found  in  nature,  and 
the  rock  we  see  thus  blown  out  of  the  desert  is  more  than 
half  dirt  and  sand.  It  is  loaded  on  carts  and  carried  to 
factories  which  have  been  built  in  the  fields. 
CARP.  s.  AM. — 7 


I04 


CHILE. 


-S.Ofr  EARTH 


The  factories  have  great  boiling  tanks,  heated  by  steam 
pipes  which  run  through  them.  Into  these  tanks  of  hot 
water  the  lumps  of  nitrate  are  thrown.  The  boiling  melts 
up  the  rock,  and  just  as  salt  melts  and  goes  into  water,  so 

the  nitrate  salt  is 
taken  up  by  the 
water  of  the  tank, 
while  the  dirt  and 
sand  sink  to  the 
bottom. 

After  a  time  all 
of  the  nitrate  of 
soda  has  gone  out 
of  the  rock  into  the 
boiling  water.  It 
now  looks  for  all 
the  world  like  pale 
maple  sirup. 

This  fluid  is  drawn  from  the  boiler  and  run  into  cooling 
tanks.  In  these  the  nitrate  soon  crystallizes  and  sinks  to 
the  bottom,  so  that  after  a  time  each  tank  is  filled  with 
what  looks  like  white  sugar,  while  the  water  on  top  has 
become  almost  clear.     The  deposit  is  nitrate  of  soda. 

The  water  is  now  allowed  to  flow  off,  and  the  nitrate  is 
shoveled  out  into  piles  to  dry  in  the  sun.  It  is  next 
bagged  up  in  sacks  of  three  hundred  pounds  each  and 
taken  on  the  railroad  to  the  seacoast,  to  be  shipped  to  the 
United  States  and  to  Europe. 

There  is  another  thing  which  comes  from  the  nitrate 
rock,  which  is  carefully  saved.  This  is  iodine,  a  crystal- 
line substance  which  is  used  in  photography  and  for  mak- 
ing dyes  and  many  kinds  of  valuable  drugs.  It  is  obtained 
from  the  boiled  water  out  of  which  the  nitrate  has  been 


Diagram  of  Nitrate  Bed. 


NITRATE    DESERT. 


105 


taken.     Into  the  water  a  certain  quantity  of  bisulphite  of 

soda  is  put.     This  causes  all  the  iodine  in  the  water  to 

drop  to  the  bottom  in 

a  dirty  black  powder. 

This  powder  is  washed, 

and  heated  in  tight  iron 

boxes.      It  soon  turns 

to  vapor,  and  is  then 

conducted     from     the 

boxes  into  pipes  of  fire 

clay.     As    the    vapor 

touches     the     clay     it 

cools  and   changes  to 

crystals  of  a  beautiful 

violet     color.       These 

crystals  are  the  iodine 

of    commerce.      They 

are  shipped  to  Europe, 

and  thence  sent  to  all 

parts  of  the  world. 

Is  it  not  curious  that 
men  should  go  so  far 
and  work  so  hard 
merely  to  get  food  for 
the  soil  ?  The  earth  is 
much  like  man  in  that 
it  will  not  work  well — 
that  is,  produce  good 
crops  for  many  years 
in  succession— without  '"^^^^^  ^^  ^  ^^"^  explosion." 

being  fed.     The  most  of  the  nitrate  is  used  as  food  for 
lands  which  are  expected  to  yield  the  richest  of  crops. 

Good  soil  foods  are  so  valuable  indeed  that  farmers 


I06 


CHILE. 


Nitrate  Factory. 

will  pay  high  prices  for  them,  and  vast  fortunes  have  been 
made  out  of  other  such  things  which  are  found  in  this 
part  of  South  America. 

Next  to  nitrate  of  soda  the  chief  of  these  is  guano. 
Guano  is  a  mixture  of  the  manure  of  birds,  dead  seals,  and 
fish,  which  is  found  along  certain  parts  of  the  seacoast 
and  on  a  number  of  islands  not  far  from  the  shores  of 
Peru  and  Chile.  The  islands  are  volcanic  rocks.  They 
are  as  bare  as  the  desert.  They  have  not  a  blade  of 
grass  or  any  green  thing  upon  them,  and  are  merely  rock 
masses  covered  with  what  looks  much  like  sand. 

If  you  stir  this  sand  up  it  will  give  forth  a  smell  Hke 
ammonia,  and  if  you  put  it  upon  the  soil  it  will  cause  it  to 
produce  bountiful  crops.  If  we  should  stay  on  the  islands 
overnight  we  could  see  that  they  are  then  covered  by  the 


GUANO    ISLANDS. 


107 


birds  which  have  for  ages  chosen  them  as  their  roosting 
places  and  homes.  They  are  the  pehcans  and  sea  gulls 
which  feed  by  the  millions  in  the  waters  of  this  part  of 
the  Pacific.  They  often  bring  the  fish  they  have  caught 
in  their  bills  to  the  islands  and  leave  them  there.  During 
some  parts  of  the  year,  many  seals  come'  here  to  breed, 
and  seals  often  crawl  out  of  the  sea  upon  these  rocks  to  die. 


On  a  Guano  Island. 


All  this  has  been  going  on  for  many  years,  and  the 
result  is  a  deposit  which  is  so  valuable  as  manure  that 
ships  are  sent  here  to  take  it  away  to  our  country  and  to 
Europe.  There  are  houses  upon  some  of  the  islands,  put 
up  for  the  men  who  dig  out  the  guano,  and  on  one  or 
two  of  them  there  are  little  railroads  which  have  been 
made  to  carry  the  guano  down  to  the  shores. 


Io8  CHILE. 


XIV.     ALONG   THE   COAST   TO    VALPARAISO. 

IT  takes  us  five  days  by  steamer  to  go  from  Iquique  to 
Valparaiso  (val-pa-ri'so),  the  chief  seaport  of  Chile. 
The  sail  along  the  west  coast  is  delightful.  There  are  few 
storms,  and  almost  every  day  we  make  a  new  port,  at 
which  we  see  many  strange  things. 

Luscious  grapes  and  oranges  are  brought  to  the  steamer 
from  the  valley  oases  of  the  desert,  and  we  now  and  then 
take  on  a  few  barrels  of  wine. 

While  our  steamer  stops  at  Antofagasta  we  have  time  to 
visit  the  largest  smelter  in  all  South  America.  It  has  been 
built  here  to  smelt  the  silver  out  of  the  ore  brought  down 
from  the  Andes.  This  work  is  done  in  huge  furnaces, 
the  ore  being  melted  with  other  materials  in  such  a  way 
that  the  pure  silver  is  taken  out  of  the  rocks. 

The  ore  is  first  ground  to  powder,  which  is  then  molded 
into  bricks.  As  we  pass  through  the  yard  we  see  a 
large  plot  of  ground  upon  which  are  piled  up  enough 
bricks  to  build  a  big  house.  It  is  perhaps  the  richest 
brickyard  on  earth.  The  bricks  look  like  blocks  of  gray 
sand,  but  they  are  really  silver  ore,  ground  fine  and 
molded  into  this  shape  that  the  ore  may  be  more  easily 
smelted. 

Farther  down  the  coast  we  anchor  at  Coquimbo  (ko- 
kem^bo)  to  take  on  a  big  load  of  copper.  Hundreds  of 
long  bars  or  bricks  of  reddish-brown  metal  are  brought 
out  to  our  steamer  on  a  lighter  and  put  away  in  the  hold. 

This  copper  comes  from  mines  not  far  from  the  town. 
We  learn  that  Chile  has  vast  deposits  of  very  rich  copper. 
It  lies  in  great  lumps  or  veins  in  the  mountains,  and   is 


ALONG    THE    COAST.  IO9 

dug  out  and  smelted  in  the  furnaces  at  this  port  and  else- 
where; 

Soon  after  leaving  Coquimbo  we  notice  that  the  shores 
have  lost  their  gray,  dusty  look.  Now  and  then  we  see 
a  tree  and  a  patch  of  green  grass.  We  are  out  of  the  desert 
at  last. 

We  sail  about  two  hundred  miles  farther  south,  and 
finally  come  to  anchor  in  the  Bay  of  Valparaiso.  It  is 
shaped  like  a  half-moon,  being  walled  with  steep  hills 
covered  with  luxuriant  trees  and  beautiful  flowers.  A 
few  miles  inland  from  the  coast  there  are  orange  and 
lemon  groves,  vineyards  and  trees  bearing  almost  all  kinds 
of  fruits;  and  just  over  the  mountains  is  the  long  valley 
of  Chile,  one  of  the  richest  farming  and  fruit-raising  re- 
gions of  all  South  America. 

At  Valparaiso  we  are  not  halfway  along  the  coast. 
Chile  extends  from  here  to  the  Strait  of  Magellan.  It  is 
the  narrowest  of  all  countries  in  proportion  to  its  length. 
It  stretches  only  from  the  ocean  to  the  top  of  the  Andes, 
and  its  width  is  nowhere  greater  than  the  distance  from 
New  York  to  Boston.  In  some  places,  indeed,  its  width 
is  not  greater  than  the  distance  from  Philadelphia  to  New 
York,  but  it  is  so  long  that  if  laid  from  east  to  west  upon 
the  United  States,  with  one  end  at  New  York,  it  would 
stretch  out  far  beyond  Great  Salt  Lake.  If  you  could 
twist  it  around,  so  that  it  would  lie  north  and  south,  with 
Tierra  del  Fuego  on  the  Florida  Keys,  the  nitrate  fields 
which  we  have  just  left  would  be  in  Hudson  Bay,  about 
even  with  the  northern  part  of  Labrador. 

A  land  of  this  kind  must  have  many  climates.  It  was 
quite  hot  at  Iquique,  but  the  winter  air  here  at  Valparaiso 
is  pleasantly  cool,  and  near  the  Strait  of  Magellan  the 
ground  is  often  covered  with  snow.     The  same  difference 


no 


CHILE. 


Harbor,  Valparaiso. 


exists  in  regard  to  rain.  In  the  northern  desert  one 
never  needs  an  umbrella,  but  at  Valparaiso  it  rains  now 
and  then  throughout  the  year.  It  rains  more  as  you  go 
farther  south,  and  in  some  places  so  much  water  falls  that 
the  people  jokingly  say  it  rains  thirteen  months  every 
year. 

As  we  reach  the  rain  belt  the  desert  suddenly  stops; 
green  fields  are  frequently  seen ;  and  as  we  go  still  farther 
south  we  shall  travel  in  a  valley  covered  with  crops,  and 
come  into  a  country  where  the  grass  grows  luxuriantly 
and  where  there  are  great  forests  bound  together  with 
vines. 

But  what  is  the  cause  of  the  change?  Why  is  northern 
Chile  so  dry  and  the  greater  part  of  southern  Chile  wet? 

It  comes  from  the  winds.     We  have  learned  that  the 


VALPARAISO.  Ill 

desert  exists  because  the  winds  which  come  from  the  east 
have  had  the  water  squeezed  out  of  them  by  the  cold  air 
of  the  mountains  before  they  reach  the  west  slope. 

The  winds  which  roll  over  southern  Chile  come  from  a 
different  direction.  They  are  blown  toward  the  south- 
east. As  they  cross  the  warm  waters  of  the  Pacific  they 
drink  themselves  full  of  moisture,  and  when  they  reach  the 
cold  part  of  Chile  the  difference  in  the  temperature  makes 
this  moisture  drop  down.  Hence  we  shall  find  that  there 
are  copious  rains,  producing  many  streams,  which  flow 
down  the  west  slope  of  the  Andes.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  mountains,  in  parts  of  Patagonia,  the  country  is  almost 
a  desert,  for  the  winds  have  been  wrung  dry  before  they 
reach  there. 

Leaving  our  ship,  we  explore  Valparaiso.  The  city  is 
about  the  size  of  Indianapolis.  It  is  the  best  business 
point  upon  the  whole  coast,  owing  its  growth  to  its  harbor, 
which  is  large  enough  to  float  all  the  ships  of  the  world. 

We  come  to  anchor  among  steamers  from  different  parts 
of  Europe.  They  are  loading  and  discharging  goods. 
Some  of  them  are  taking  on  cattle,  wheat,  vegetables,  and 
fruits  for  the  cities  of  the  desert  farther  north,  and  others 
have  stopped  on  their  way  to  add  to  their  cargoes  of 
nitrate,  copper,  and  hides,  which  they  will  carry  from 
Chile  to  Europe. 

We  take  a  boat  to  the  shore,  wondering  how  we  can 
get  up  the  hills  to  the  houses  above  us.  Valparaiso  rises 
from  the  water  in  the  shape  of  an  amphitheater,  or  like  the 
grand  stand  of  a  ball  ground.  The  streets  rise  in  terraces, 
one  above  the  other,  so  that  the  buildings  at  the  top  seem 
to  hang  out  above  and  threaten  to  fall  down  upon  those 
below. 

But  see,  there  are  cable  cars  climbing  up  and  down  the 


112 


CHILE. 


Steep  hills.  It  Is  by  them  we  shall  mount  from  one  street 
to  another,  for  the  only  level  land  in  the  city  is  a  narrow 
stretch  along  the  shore. 

Upon  this  level  place  is  the  business  part  of  Valparaiso. 
It  is  all  on  made  ground.     The  hills  were  dug  down  and 

the  waters  kept 
back  by  walls  of 
stone  and  iron  rails, 
in  order  that  the 
tide  might  not  eat 
out  the  land. 

We  step  from  our 
boat  upon  stone 
wharves,  and  walk 
over  streets  as  well 
paved  as  our  streets 
at  home.  It  is  hard 
for  us  to  believe 
we  are  in  a  South 
American  city.  The 
buildings  are  large 
and  much  like  those 
of  our  cities.  The  stores  have  plate  glass  windows.  We 
see  German  and  English  names  over  some  of  them,  and 
we  learn  that  Valparaiso  has  many  Europeans  who  have 
come  here  to  engage  in  trade. 

The  people  do  not  look  much  different  from  those  of 
New  York  and  Chicago.  There  are  electric  lights.  We 
hear  the  boys  cry  the  newspapers,  and  as  we  notice  the 
signs  of  enterprise  all  about  us  we  believe  what  has  been 
told  us,  that  the  Chileans  are  among  the  most  enterpris- 
ing people  of  the  South  American  continent. 

The  country  contains  about  three  million  inhabitants. 


Chileans. 


VALPARAISO. 


113 


They  do  not  call  themselves  Chileans,  but  Chilenos  (che- 
la'nos),  and  they  pride  themselves  on  being  better  and 
stronger  than  the  people  of  the  countries  farther  north. 

They  are  Hke  them,  however,  in  that  they  are  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Spaniards  and  of  the  mixed  race  of 
Spaniards  and  Indians.  The  difference  is  that  the  Span- 
iards who  came  to  Chile  were  chiefly  from  the  northern 
provinces  of  Spain,  where  the  people  are  stronger  and 
better  than  those  of  the  south,  and  also  that  the  Chilean 
Indians  were  the  famed  Araucanians,  a  much  stronger  and 
braver  race  than  the  tribes  ruled  by  the  Incas,  with  whom 
the  Spaniards  united  in  Ecuador  and  Peru. 


Street  Scene,  Valparaiso, 


The   Chileans  we  see  on  the  streets  of  Valparaiso  are 
dressed  just  as  we  are.     We  hear  many  of  them  speak 


114 


CHILE. 


English,  and  as  we  look  at  our  familiar  surroundings  we 
wonder  whether  Chile  is,  after  all,  much  different  from  the 
United  States. 

But  stop.  There  comes  a  lady  with  a  black  shawl 
draped  about  her  head,  and  behind  her  is  a  vegetable  ped- 
dler with  his  stock  in  panniers  on  the  sides  of  a  mule. 
There  is  a  bread  mule  being  dragged  along  by  the  baker, 
and  a  milk  mule  going  down  that  side  street.  Get  out  of 
the  way  of  that  carriage  with  its  high-stepping  horses,  and, 
as  you  do  so,  look  out  for  the  horse  which  has  just  come 
around  the  corner.  Its  rider  is  a  man  with  a  poncho  and 
a  broad-brimmed  hat.  He  is«probably  a  rich  farmer  in 
from  the  country.     We  shall  ^e  P}any  of  his  kind  later  on. 


A  queer  street  car." 


ACROSS    SOUTH    AMERICA.  I  15 

What  a  queer  street  car  that  is  going  by  us!  It  has 
seats  on  top  as  well  as  inside.  See  that  pretty  woman  on 
the  rear  platform.  She  is  the  conductor.  She  is  taking 
up  the  fares  and  making  change  from  the  money  in  her 
white  apron  pocket.  There  are  women  street  car  con- 
ductors in  all  of  the  chief  cities  of  Chile.  The  custom 
was  introduced  when  Chile  was  at  war  with  Peru  and  the 
men  were  all  needed  for  soldiers. 

But  we  may  as  well  leave  Valparaiso.  It  has  so  many 
foreigners  that  we  must  go  inland  to  see  how  the  Chileans 
Hve  and  to  learn  about  their  country.  There  are  railroads 
to  the  interior,  and  we  decide  to  make  our  first  journey 
on  the  Transandine  line. 

XV.     ACROSS    SOUTH    AMERICA    BY   RAIL. 

WE  have  already  seen  something  of  the  railroads  farther 
north  which  go  from  the  Pacific  to  the  top  of  the 
Andes.  The  one  upon  which  we  are  riding  to-day  will 
soon  join  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans  together.  It  is 
the  Transandine  Railroad,  going  over  the  Andes  from 
Valparaiso  to  Buenos  Aires. 

Our  car  is  a  Pullman,  and  we  can  see  well  as  we  go. 
Leaving  Valparaiso,  the  train  skirts  the  edge  of  the  harbor, 
passing  through  the  rich  suburb  of  Vina  del  Mar. 

How  soft  the  air  is,  and  how  sweet  the  smell  of  the 
trees  and  grass  after  our  long  stay  in  the  desert !  Morn- 
ing-glories are  blooming  on  the  fences  at  the  roadside,  and 
that  great  bush  over  there  is  loaded  with  roses.  Now  we 
whiz  by  an  orange  grove,  almost  close  enough  to  grab  at 
the  yellow  balls  peeping  out  of  the  leaves.  Now  we  go 
by  vineyards,  and  now  we  stop  at  a  station,  at  which  pears, 


ii6 


CHILE. 


Transandine  Rail?oad. 


figs,  and  lemons  are  brought  to  the  car  windows  for  sale. 
How  cheap  everything  is!  We  can  get  a  big  bunch  of 
grapes,  or  all  the  oranges  we  can  eat,  for  a  dime. 

Now  the  road  leaves  the  coast,  and  we  are  climbing  the 
hills.  There  is  but  little  green  except  in  the  valleys. 
They  are  covered  with  cultivated  fields,  through  which 
flow  irrigating  ditches  supplied  by  the  streams. 

See  the  men  at  work  in  the  fields.  There  is  one  plow- 
ing. He  has  two  white  oxen  joined  to  the  plow  by  a 
pole.  The  pole  is  tied  to  the  yoke,  which  rests  on  the 
necks  of  the  oxen  just  back  of  the  horns,  to  which  it  is  fast- 
ened with  skin  ropes. 

At  the  next  station  we  see  oxen  yoked  the  same  way 
pulling  huge  carts  loaded  with  grain.     Notice  the  wheels 


ACROSS    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


117 


of  the  carts.  They  are  twice  as  high  as  those  of  our  carts, 
and  the  loads  are  so  heavy  that  eight  oxen  are  yoked  in 
double  file  to  each  cart.  How  the  wheels  creak  and 
screech  on  their  way  past  the  train !  The  oxen  are  push- 
ing their  burden  along  by  their  heads.  The  method  of 
yoking  them  is  cruel  indeed.  An  ox  cannot  move  his 
head  unless  his  fellow  ox  moves  at  the  same  time. 


A  Load  of  Grain. 


The  houses  of  the  Chilean  towns  are  very  similar  to 
those  we  saw  on  the  coast  of  Peru.  There  are  many 
huts  in  the  fields,  made  of  mud,  with  roofs  of  straw, 
thatch,  or  sheet  iron. 

After  we  cross  the  coast  range  the  farms  are  larger  and 
the  country  is  more  thickly  populated.     We  ride  for  some 


ii8 


CHILE. 


time  through  the  irrigated  valley  of  the  Aconcagua  river, 
with  the  mighty  mountains  rising  above  us.  We  are  now 
climbing  the  second  range  of  the  Andes. 

As  we  go  on,  gradually  rising,  we  pass  orchards  of 
apples  and  peaches,  with  rich,  well- watered  gardens  lying 
high  up  in  the  mountains.  The  country  grows  wilder  and 
wilder,  and  at  last  we  are  at  the  station  where  the  road  ends. 

We  are  now  very  near  the  frontier  of  Argentina  and 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  long  Argentina  Railroad, 
which  crosses  the  pampas  to  Buenos  Aires.     We  have  not 


Uspallata  Pass. 


ACROSS    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


119 


time  now  to  make  the  whole  journey,  for  we  wish  to  go 
about  through  the  southern  part  of  the  continent  by  the 
Strait  of  Magellan.  So  we  shall  merely  ride  over  the 
mountains  on  mules,  to  look  at  the  other  end  of  the  road, 
and  then  return  to  our  travels  in  Chile.  The  railroad  is 
not  yet  completed,  but  the  distance  between  the  two  sec- 
tions is  so  short  that  we  can  go  there  and  back  in  less 
than  three  days. 


Wagon  Road  up  the  Andes. 

This  road  over  the  Andes  is  by  the  Uspallata  Pass, 
which  is  12,340  feet  above  the  sea.  It  is  a  fairly  good 
mountain  road  in  the  summer,  but  now,  in  the  winter,  it  is 
often  blocked  up  with  deep  snows.  At  times  the  snows 
are  so  heavy  that  all  travel  is  stopped.  The  mails  pile  up 
at  the  two  ends  of  the  railroad,  and  the  mail  carriers  going 
between  them  are  sometimes  lost  in  the  storm. 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 8 


I20 


CHILE. 


That  is  why  the  Httle  stone  huts  which  we  pass  now  and 
then  have  been  built.  They  have  no  windows.  They 
look  more  like  bake  ovens  than  houses.  They  are  for 
shelter  for  the  passengers  and  postmen  who  are  caught  in 
the  storms.  Men  sometimes  have  to  live  in  them  for  days, 
waiting  for  the  snows  to  melt  in  the  mountains. 

There  are  one  or  two  rude  inns  on  the  way,  where  we 
stop ;  the  hot  soup  tastes  good,  for  we  are  cold. 

The  Andes  at  this  point  are  wild  in  the  extreme.  One 
of  the  worst  parts  of  the  pass  is  called  the  Valley  of  Deso- 
lation. Here  the  land  is  covered  with  volcanic  rock,  upon 
which  nothing  can  grow.     Now  and  then  we  see  a  gua- 

naco,  a  wild  animal 
which  looks  somewhat 
like  a  llama,  except  that 
its  fur  is  yellow  spotted 
with  white.  We  shall 
see  more  such  farther 
south. 

Now  a  condor  soars 
about  over  us.  There 
it  is  between  us  and  the 
sun,  casting  a  shadow 
upon  the  snow.  Condors 
when  they  are  hungry 
are  Hke  vultures;  they 
will  eat  dead  things, 
and  we  are  wondering 
whether  that  mighty 
bird  is  not  waiting  to  see 
us  drop  in  our  tracks. 
How  pure  the  air  is,  and  how  thin !  We  fear  we  may 
have  another  attack  of  mountain  sickness.    We  are,  how- 


A  Condor. 


ACROSS    SOUTH    AMERICA.  121 

ever,  more  than  a  mile  lower  down  at  the  summit  of  this 
pass  than  at  the  Galera  tunnel,  through  which  we  crossed 
the  Andes  on  the  Oroya  Railroad  back  of  Lima,  and  our 
faintness  soon  passes  off. 

The  highest  part  of  the  Transandine  Railroad,  yet  to 
be  built,  will  include  many  tunnels.  The  cars  will  be  taken 
up  the  steepest  part  of  the  mountain  by  a  track  like  those 
which  go  up  Pikes  Peak  and  Mount  Washington.  The 
track  will  have  three  rails.  In  addition  to  the  two  which 
you  usually  see  on  a  railroad  there  will  be  a  third  narrow 
rail  with  many  rungs  in  it,  like  a  ladder.  Upon  this  a  cog 
wheel  attached  to-the  car  will  move,  and  the  little  engine 
made  for  the  purpose  will  be  behind  the  train  instead  of  in 
front  of  it.  The  cars  will  be  pushed,  not  pulled,  up  the 
mountains.  At  about  two  miles  above  the  sea  there  will 
be  a  tunnel  through  the  mountains,  and  there  will  also  be 
many  snowsheds  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  through  which 
the  trains  will  pass  in  order  that  they  may  not  be  stopped 
in  the  winter. 

The  road  will  be  of  great  good  to  South  American 
travelers.  We  shall  see  this  as  we  go  by  the  old  route 
around  the  south  end  of  the  continent  to  Buenos  Aires. 
The  voyage  from  Valparaiso  by  the  Strait  of  Magellan 
takes  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  days.  When  this  road  is 
finished  passengers  will  be  carried  clear  across  the  conti- 
nent in  twenty-nine  hours.  It  will  make  the  trip  from 
Europe  to  the  west  coast  of  South  America  very  much 
shorter,  and  travelers  from  Europe  to  Austraha  will  come 
to  Buenos  Aires  in  about  twenty  days,  then  cross  South 
America  by  rail,  and  take  ship  at  Valparaiso,  instead  of 
making  the  long  voyage  around  through  the  Strait  of 
Magellan  as  they  now  do. 

On  our  journey  over  the  road  we  have  fine  views  of 


122 


CHILE. 


Aconcagua,  the  highest  of  the  Andes.  It  is  one  of  the  fine 
n^ountain  sights  of  the  world.  When  the  sky  is  clear  it 
can  be  seen  from  Valparaiso  rising  in  a  great  cone  high 
above  the  others  of  the  Chilean  Andes,  dwarfing  all  the 

peaks  near  it  except 
Mount  Tupungato 
(too  -  poon  -  ga^to), 
which  is  more  than 
four  miles  in  height. 
Aconcagua  is 
more  than  23,900 
feet  high,  and  as  we 
look  at  its  snowy- 
top  we  long  to  climb 
it.  If  we  should 
make  the  attempt, 
we  should  probably 
meet  snowstorms, 
and  we  might  be 
frozen  during  the 
cold  nights. 

Near  the  summit 


Aconcagua. 


there  are  cliffs  which  are  hard  to  scale,  and  at  the  top  we 
should  stand  on  a  square  plateau  about  two  hundred  feet 
wide,  with  great  masses  of  fleecy  clouds  far  below  us,  and 
the  mountains  stretching  away  to  the  east  and  to  the  south. 
On  one  side  we  could  see  the  pampas  of  Argentina,  and 
on  the  other,  over  the  narrow  band  of  green  which  is  the 
country  of  Chile,  ninety  miles  away,  would  be  the  shining, 
silvery  waters  of  the  Pacific. 

This  journey,  however,  can  be  made  only  in  the  sum- 
mer, and  our  guides  will  not  allow  us  to  make  the  attempt. 
We  must  be  satisfied  with  the  magnificent  views  we  have 


SANTIAGO.  123 

had  as  we  rode  through  the  pass.  So  we  lemount  our 
mules  and  slowly  climb  back  down  the  hills  to  the  railroad. 
Here  we  take  the  train  for  Los  Andes,  where  we  change 
cars  to  the  line  which  goes  down  the  central  valley  of 
Chile  and  brings  us  at  last  to  Santiago. 


^>^c 


XVI.     SANTIAGO,  THE   CAPITAL   OF   CHILE. 

SANTIAGO  (san-ti-a'go)  is  the  capital  of  Chile.  It 
is  almost  as  large  as  our  national  capital,  and  in  man}^ 
things  like  it.  Washington  is  six  hours  distant  from  our 
chief  seaport.  New  York.  Santiago  is  about  six  hours  by 
rail  from  Valparaiso,  the  chief  seaport  of  Chile.  Wash- 
ington lies  in  a  basin  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  San- 
tiago is  cut  in  two  by  the  river  Mapo'cho,  and  the  basin 
upon  which  it  is  built  is  walled  by  the  snowy  Andes  and 
by  low  mountains  which  rise  one  above  'another  from 
grassy  plains. 

We  have  our  Capitol  Hill.  Santiago  has  its  Santa 
Lucia  (loo-se'a),  a  mass  of  volcanic  rocks  rising  almost 
precipitously  in  the  midst  of 'the  city  to  a  height  more 
than  half  that  of  the  Washington  Monument 

Santa  Lucia  is  perhaps  the  most  picturesque  hill  of  any 
city  of  the  world.  It  has  a  base  of  a  little  more  than  an 
acre.  It  is  composed  of  rocks  enormous  in  size  and  piled 
together  in  curious  shapes.  There  is  earth  mixed  with 
the  rocks,  so  that  trees  grow  among  them.  Flowers  and 
vines  have  been  planted,  and  the  hill  has  been  made  into  a 
beautiful  park.  Its  sides  are  covered  with  English  ivy. 
Tall  eucalyptus  trees  rise  out  of  the  crevices  of  the  rocks 
from  its  base  to  its  summit.     It  has  wonderful  ferns,  dark 


24 


CHILE. 


caves,  and  beautiful  grottoes  in  which  there  are  waterfalls, 
making  altogether  what  might  be  called  a  hanging  garden 
away  up  there  above  the  city,  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Andes. 

There  are  winding  driveways  and  footpaths  which  go 
round  and  round  the  hill  to  the  summit.     We  walk  up  one 


Santa  Lucia. 


of  the  paths  to  take  a  look  over  Santiago.  It  is  early 
morning,  and  the  sun  is  just  rising  up  in  the  great  blue  dome 
of  the  sky.  It  has  caught  the  tops  of  the  Andes  at  the 
back  of  the  city,  and  the  snows  upon  them  are  shining  like 
frosted  silver  incrusted  with  diamonds.  The  foothills  in 
the  shadow  are  like  blue  velvet,  and  we  look  at  the  plains 
away  off  in  the  distance,  with  their  rich  growth  of  green. 


SANTIAGO. 


125 


Our  eyes  now  drop  to  the  city  below  us.  Red-tiled 
roofs  with  trees  and  bushes  growing  out  of  them  extend 
about  on  all  sides.  Those  are  the  roofs  of  the  Chilean 
capital.  The  scene  is  not  unlike  that  we  saw  from  the  top 
of  our  hotel  in  Lima.  The  houses  are  built  in  the  same 
style.  They  are  close  to  the  streets,  and  consist  of  rooms 
built  around  small  courts,  or  patios,  in  which  are  the 
gardens.  •Some  of  the  Santiago  houses  are  of  vast  size, 
although  all  are  low,  few  being  of  more  than  two  stories. 


"  The  Alameda,  the  chief  street  of  this  South  American  capital. 


See  that  wide  avenue  which  cuts  the  city  almost  in 
halves.  That  is  the  Alameda,  the  chief  street  of  this  South 
American  capital.  It  is  twice  as  wide  as  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  in  Washington.     There  are  rows  of  tall  poplar 


126  CHILE. 

trees  running  through  it  from  one  end  to  the  other,  and 
along  each  side  of  the  trees  are  stone  aqueducts  in  which 
streams  of  mountain  water  are  flowing. 

With  our  field  glasses  we  see  the  statues  of  many  Chil- 
ean heroes  under  the  trees,  and  at  every  few  feet  stone 
seats  upon  which  men  and  women  are  sitting,  enjoying  the 
air.  Boys  are  riding  on  bicycles  along  the  paths  in  the 
center  of  the  street,  and  at  every  few  hundred  "feet  there 
are  two  or  three  cows  with  their  calves  beside  them.  Each 
of  the  calves  wears  a  muzzle.  The  cows  are  owned  by 
women,  who  milk  them  from  time  to  time  and  sell  the 
milk  warm  from  the  cow  to  the  people  who  are  out  taking 
the  air.  The  cows  are  not  tied,  but  are  hobbled  by  ropes 
about  their  hind  legs. 

Now  turn  your  eyes  a  little  more  to  the  right.  There 
is  another  wide  strip  of  green,  with  a  band  of  silver  run- 
ning through  it.  That  is  the  river  Mapocho,  which  flows 
through  the  city.  A  little  more  to  the  left  is  the  race 
course,  which  is  thronged  by  thousands  on  Sunday  after- 
noons, when  the  chief  races  are  held.  The  forest  above  it 
is  Cousino  (co-u-sen'yo)  Park,  where  the  people  drive  in 
their  carriages  every  afternoon. 

But  let  us  go  down  from  the  hill  and  take  a  street  car 
ride  through  the  city.  The  seats  on  the  roof  of  the  car 
are  the  best  for  sight-seeing,  and  to  ride  there  costs  only 
one  cent  of  our  money  per  trip. 

Think  of  a  street  car  ride  for  a  cent,  and  that  ride 
through  Santiago !  We  give  our  fare  to  the  woman  con- 
ductor, and  are  soon  whizzing  along,  as  high  up  as  the  roofs 
of  the  one-story  houses,  through  the  suburbs  and  poorer 
parts  of  the  town.  Now  we  pass  between  the  higher 
buildings  of  the  business  section.  What  fine  stores  they 
are !    They  are  as  good  as  our  stores  at  home.    The  show 


SANTIAGO. 


127 


windows  have  all  sorts  of  beautiful  goods,  and  there  are 
several  great  arcades  roofed  with  glass  which  have  been 
cut  through  the  business  blocks  from  one  side  to  the  other. 


**  Let  us  take  a  street  car  ride  through  the  city.** 

We  go  by  the  Moneda,  or  the  mint.  It  is  a  great  build- 
ing which  contains  also  the  home  of  the  president  and 
most  of  the  offices  of  the  Chilean  government.  At  the 
door  there  are  soldiers  with  drawn  swords  in  their  hands. 
Later  on  we  see  that  the  president  of  Chile  has  a  military- 
guard  of  two  hundred  cavalry  which  goes  with  his  carriage 
on  all  state  occasions. 

The  Chileans  are  fond  of  pomp  and  display.  We  meet 
policemen  with  swords  at  their  sides  on  every  street  corner, 
and  we  shall  see  soldiers  drilling  in  every  city  and  town. 

Chile  is  a  republic  after  the  South  American  fashion,  in 


128 


CHILE. 


which  the  chief  families  control  the  elections  and  hold  most 
of  the  offices. 

In  that  building  we  are  now  passing  the  houses  of  Con- 
gress meet,  and  those  men  who  are  going  in  are  senators 
and  deputies  who  sit  there  and  make  laws  just  as  in  our 
Congress  at  home. 

But  here  we  are  at  the  Plaza  des  Armes,  where  all  the 
cars  stop.  This  is  the  center  of  the  Chilean  capital.  That 
big  building  over  there  is  the   cathedral,  and  the  great 


In  that  building  the  houses  of  Congress  meet.' 


Structure  next  door  is  the  palace  where  the  archbishop 
lives.  The  Roman  Catholic  religion  is  the  chief  religion 
of  Chile,  and  the  church  has  a  great  deal  of  property. 
Some  of  the  best  business  blocks  of  Santiago  belong  to  it, 


SANTIAGO.  129 

and  it  has  vast  estates  in  the  country,  upon  which  fruit  and 
wheat  and  other  such  things  are  raised  for  sale.  Those 
ladies  dressed  all  in  black,  with  black  shawls  on  their 
heads,  are  going  to  mass.  See  the  little  rugs  which  they 
have  with  them.  They  kneel  upon  them  when  they  pray, 
for  many  of  the  churches  have  no  seats,  and  the  stone 
floors  are  cold. 

Later  on  we  visit  the  schools.  They  are  much  like  our 
schools  at  home,  save  that  the  girls  and  the  boys  are  kept 
in  different  buildings,  and  that  the  children  of  the  lower 
grades  all  study  out  loud.  Chile  has  now  a  good  public 
school  system.  There  are  schools  in  every  city  and  vil- 
lage, although  four  children  out  of  every  five  are  still  kept 
at  home.  We  find  Santiago  has  a  national  university  with 
a  thousand  students,  and  that  there  are  also  schools  for 
the  army  and  navy. 

Indeed,  we  are  surprised  at  the  intelligence  of  the  Chil- 
eans. They  have  been  called  the  Yankees  of  South 
America,  because  they  are  so  bright  and  enterprising  and 
in  other  ways  like  us.  Many  people  of  the  better  classes 
speak  French  and  English,  some  having  been  educated  in 
Europe.  In  all  the  cities  there  are  daily  newspapers.  We 
meet  newsboys  on  almost  every  street  corner,  and  visit 
large  bookstores  in  the  business  parts  of  the  city. 

At  the  post  office  we  learn  that  miUions  of  letters  and 
newspapers  go  through  the  mails  every  year,  and  when 
we  inquire  we  find  that  there  are  telegraph  lines  to  all 
parts  of  the  country,  and  that  the  prices  for  telegrams  are 
much  lower  than  we  pay  at  home.  There  are  electric 
lights  and  electric  railroads  in  the  principal  Chilean  cities. 
Telephones  are  to  be  found  in  all  the  large  towns,  and  you 
can  talk  from  Santiago  to  your  friends  in  Valparaiso  over 
the  telephone,  although  it  is  distant  six  hours  by  rail. 


I30  CHILE. 

During  our  stay  at  the  capital  we  are  invited  to  visit  the 
homes  of  some  well-to-do  Chileans.  We  are  surprised  at 
the  size  of  their  houses.  They  are  of  one  or  two  stories, 
but  many  of  them  have  forty  large  rooms,  which  are  fur- 
nished as  expensively  as  the  houses  of  our  millionaires.  In 
many  homes  we  see  fine  paintings  and  statues,  and  in  the 
suburbs  we  visit  mansions  with  gardens  about  them,  in  wh  ich 
are  lemon  and  orange  trees  and  all  kinds  of  beautiful  flowers. 

But  how  about  the  poor?  All  of  the  Chileans  cannot 
be  rich.  No,  indeed  ;  they  are  not.  There  are  poor  people 
everywhere.  We  see  them  driving  carts,  and  carrying 
goods  on  their  backs  through  the  streets.  We  shall  find 
them  living  in  mud  huts  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  if 
we  will  again  mount  to  the  top  of  the  street  car  we  may 
ride  through  sections  of  Santiago  which  are  filled  with  low 
one-story  houses  in  which  whole  families  live  in  one  room. 

Many  of  the  poor  people  sleep  on  the  floor,  and  their 
food  costs  but  a  few  cents  a  day.  They  are  mostly  of  the 
mixed  race  of  Spanish  and  Indians.  They  do  the  hard 
work  of  Chile,  and  we  shall  see  much  of  them  in  our  trips 
through  the  country. 


XVII.     A   VISIT  TO    A    CHILEAN    FARM. 

TO-DAY  we  start  down  the  great  central  valley  of 
Chile.  This  valley  lies  between  the  main  range  of 
the  Andes  and  the  mountains  which  border  the  coast.  It 
is  in  places  over  a  hundred  miles  wide,  and  as  long  as  the 
distance  from  New  York  to  Pittsburg.  .  It  is  divided  into 
vast  estates,  upon  which  all  sorts  of  fruits  and  grains  are 
grown,  and  where  cattle  and  horses  are  grazed  in  droves 
of  thousands. 


A  VISIT   TO   A   FARM. 


131 


There  are  few  countries  in  the  world  where  farms  are  so 
large  as  in  Chile,  or  their  owners  so  rich.  We  meet  men 
who  each  own  thousands  of  acres,  and  see  many  estates 
which  are  worth  more  than  a  million  dollars.  The  wealthier 
farmers  live  like  lords  upon  their  estates  or  haciendas. 
Farming  is  profitable  in  Chile.  The  country  produces 
every  year  more  than  twenty-eight  million  bushels  of 
wheat,  millions  of  gallons  of  wine,  and  the  best  horses  and 
cattle  on  the  west  coast  of  South  America. 

More  than  half  of  the  people  of  Chile  are  engaged 
in  farming,  but  only  a  few  families  own  land.  ,  Most  of 
the  farms  are  in  this  great  central  valley.     They  are  irri- 


Hay  Wagon. 

gated  by  the  streams  from  the  mountains,  and  are  in  most 
places  cultivated  like  gardens.  The  fields  are  divided  by 
canals,  along  which  trees  have  been  planted.  Some  of  the 
estates  have  stone  walls  about  them,  and  now  and  then 


132 


CHILE. 


we  see  a  fence  of  wire  or  boards.  We  look  in  vain  for 
barns  and  haystacks  and  farmhouses  Hke  our  own.  The 
only  buildings  are  the  vast  one-story  structures  of  the 
owners  and  the  mud  huts  of  the  workmen.  Oxen  every- 
where take  the  place  of  horses  and  mules.  Huge  carts 
drawn  by  oxen  with  yokes  tied  to  their  horns  are  used 
instead  of  farm  wagons,  and  the  plows  are  dragged 
through  the  furrows  by  the  same  clumsy  beasts. 

Some     of     the 

more  enterprising 
Chileans,  how- 
ever, have  been  in- 
troducing modern 
machinery  lately, 
and  some  of  the 
rich  farmers  now 
have  American 
plows,  threshers, 
and  reapers. 

We  visit  one  of 
the  farms,  where 
we  are  the  guests 
of  the  proprietor. 
He  has  given  us 
rooms  in  his  coun- 
try home,whichhe 
occupies  only  in 
the  summer  time, 
when  he  lives  on 
his  country  estate. 
What  a  lot  of 
rooms  there  are !  There  must  be  a  hundred  all  told,  and 
all  on  the  ground  floor.     The  buildings  are  of  one  story, 


Chilean  Farmer. 


A  VISIT  TO   A   FARM. 


133 


with  roofs  of  red  tiles,  mud  walls,  and  brick  floors.  They 
surround  little  green  courts  and  gardens.  Groves  of 
trees,  some  of  which  are  one  hundred  feet  high,  are 
growing  about  them. 

There  are  many  other  guests  at  the  time  of  our  visit. 
There  are  about  thirty  children  among  them,  and  when 


"There  are  horses  for  all.'* 

we  go  out  to  ride  there  are  horses  for  all,  some  of  the  Ht- 
tle  ones  being  tied  to  the  saddles  of  their  ponies  to  keep 
them  from  falling,  for  the  children  here  learn  to  ride  when 
quite  young. 

Every  child  of  a  rich  farmer  has  its  own  pony,  and  we  see 
boys  and  girls  between  the  ages  of  four  and  fourteen  gallop- 
ing over  the  fields,  holding  their  seats  like  men  and  women. 


134  CHILE. 

The  farm  is  so  large  that  we  might  ride  all  day  on  the 
roads  which  go  through  the  fields  and  not  visit  the  whole. 
The  fields  are  divided  by  fences  of  stone  and  also  by 
canals,  along  which  have  been  planted  Lombardy  poplars, 
which  so  shade  the  road  that  we  do  not  feel  the  warm  sun. 

We  are  delighted  with  the  horses.  The  peons  chase 
them  on  the  gallop  over  the  fields  to  show  us  how  well 
they  can  run.  They  are  fine  riding  animals.  They  are 
trained  to  a  gait  much  like  a  pace,  but  so  easy  that  we 
remain  in  our  saddles  for  hours  without  fatigue.  The 
horses  are  directed  by  pressing  the  reins  against  the 
sides  of  the  neck,  and  not  by  pulling  at  the  bit,  and  the 
lines  are  usually  left  loose.  As  a  result  the  horses  are 
seldom  hard  in  the  mouth. 

The  saddles  are  much  heavier  than  ours.  Many  of 
them  are  plated  with  silver,  and  ladies  and  gentlemen 
frequently  use  silver  stirrups.  A  Chilean  often  cares 
more  to  have  his  horse  well  dressed  than  to  be  well  dressed 
himself.  His  bridle  bit  is  of  silver,  and  his  spurs  are  often 
of  the  same  metal.  The  spurs  used  by  the  peons  have 
rowels,  or  spiked  wheels,  as  big  around  as  a  coffee  cup. 
Some  have  wheels  four  inches  in  diameter,  so  that  they 
cause  great  pain  if  the  owner  is  cruel. 

Later  on  we  go  to  the  cattle.  There  are  great  herds 
of  fine  stock  and  flocks  of  fat  sheep.  The  crops  in  the 
fields  are  growing  luxuriantly,  and  the  *  vineyards  and 
orange  orchards  are  loaded  with  fruits. 

We  ask  how  such  a  place  is  managed,  and  are  told 
that  it  has  a  major-domo,  or  chief,  who  has  overseers 
under  him  and  who  organizes  his  laborers  much  like  an 
army.  Each  overseer  has  so  many  men  to  take  charge 
of,  and  he  tells  each  man  what  to  do.  Books  are  kept 
showing  just  how  much  money  is  paid  out  and  what  is 


A   VISIT   TO   A    FARMo 


35 


--— -;g^^r:'  --' — ^-T^^^^ 


^ms:^^^"^ 


'ff^<-:'ii 


"There  are  great  herds  of  fine  stock." 

done  every  day,  so  that  the  proprietor  knows  how  well 
each  field  is  paying. 

Indeed,  the  only  poor  things  on  the  farm  are  the  rotos, 
or  farm  workmen.  The  rotos  are  the  laboring  class  of 
the  country.  They  are  somewhat  like  the  Indians  we 
saw  in  Peru  and  Bolivia.  They  come  of  the  mixed  race 
of  Spaniards  and  Indians,  inheriting  the  bravery  of  both. 
Peruvian  and  Bolivian  Indians  are  afraid  of  their  mas- 
ters ;  the  Chilean  rotos  are  not.  They  carry  knives,  and 
the  master  who  should  strike  one  of  them  would  probably 
be  stabbed  in  return.  It  is  said,  however,  that  the  rotos 
love  their  masters.  They  do  not  often  leave  the  estates 
upon  which  they  were  born. 

Let  us  enter  one  of  their  huts.  What  a  contrast  to  the 
luxurious  city  home  of  the  owner!  The  walls  are  of  mud 
bricks,  and  the  roof  is  of  thatch.     The  ground  forms  the 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 9 


136 


CHILE. 


floor,  and  in  this  case  the  bed  of  the  family.  Two  boxes 
and  a  table  are  the  only  furniture.  The  hut  has  but  one 
room,  about  fifteen  feet  square,  and  we  are  told  that  a 
family  of  eight  lives  in  it. 

We  wonder  how  people  can  exist  in  such  quarters,  and 
when  we  learn  what  they  eat  we  wonder  more.  Their 
first  meal  usually  consists  of  a  double  handful  of  toasted 
wheat  flour  mixed  with  water  into  a  mush  or  baked  as  a 
cake.     At  noon  they  have  a  bowl  of  hot  beans,  and  for 


_                                                                                                                                                                                       j 

b  _-.::/.S^^fet 

■  — '""^15? 

HL- 

■fc^_ 

4  i«:l 

i:.._  3^^^^^^^^^^^B^^^PB 

1 

^*t^^^wr 

! 
"■"    ■        -— ^ 1 

"We  wonder  how  people  can  exist  in  such  quarters." 

supper,  or  dinner,  as  they  call  it,  a  second  bowl  of  beans, 
to  which  is  added  some  toasted  meal.  They  seldom  eat 
meat,  preferring  to  spend  their  money  for  drink. 

As  a  result  of  this  mode  of  living  many  of  the   roto 
children  die.     Only  the  strongest  survive,  but  those  who 


THE   ARAUCANIANS.  137 

grow  up  are  so  strong  that  four  rotos  can  easily  lift  a 
piano  on  their  heads  and  trot  away  with  it. 

The  rotos  are  very  polite.  When  not  drunk  they  are 
kind  to  their  families.  They  are  always  ready  to  help 
one  another  in  trouble.  It  is  difficult  to  teach  them 
habits  of  thrift,  but  it  is  hoped  that  through  the  common 
schools,  which  have  recently  been  introduced  into  all 
parts  of  Chile,  they  will  become  educated  and  in  time  be 
a  much  better  race. 


>XKo< 


XVIII.     SOUTHERN    CHILE    AND   THE 
ARAUCANIANS. 

WE  have  left  our  friends  in  the  country  and  are  again 
on  the  train.  We  travel  several  hundred  miles  south- 
ward through  the  great  central  valley.  The  snowy  Andes 
are  still  on  our  left,  with  smoke  rising  here  and  there 
from  a  volcanic  peak.  We  cross  Httle  rivers  and  travel 
through  vast  wheat  fields  cut  up  by  ditches  in  which  the 
clear  water  flows. 

What  a  lot  of  vineyards  there  are !  The  hills  are  cov- 
ered with  low  grapevines,  now  brown  and  leafless,  for  it 
is  winter.  See  that  drove  of  cattle  at  the  side  of  the  road, 
with  the  rotos  on  horseback  driving  the  animals  this  way 
and  that.  They  are  rounding  up,  or  counting,  the  stock 
and  branding  the  young  with  red-hot  irons.  There  are  a 
thousand  horses  in  the  next  field,  and  we  shall  pass  other 
cattle  and  horses  between  the  stations  on  our  way  farther 
south. 

What  queer  trees  border  the  fields!  They  are  lofty 
poplars  planted  along  the  irrigating  ditches,  all  leaning 


138 


CHILE. 


north,  blown  so  by  the  winds,  which  usually  come  from 
the  south.  They  look  like  hedges,  and  form  lines  of  green 
a  hundred  feet  high  running  between  the  great  fields. 

What  is  this  broad  stream  we  are  crossing?  It  is  the 
Biobio  (be-o-be'o),  the  largest  river  of  Chile.  It  rises  in 
the  Andes,  not  far  from  the  Argentina  boundary,  and 


Bridge  over  the  Biobio. 

flows  across  the  country,  emptying  into  the  Bay  of  Con- 
cepcion.  How  wide  it  is!  The  steel  bridge  over  which 
we  cross  is  one  of  the  finest  in  South  America;  it  seems 
to  us  more  than  a  mile  long. 

There  are  woods  on  the  banks  of  the  Biobio,  and  from 
now  on  we  shall  frequently  be  in  the  forests.  There  are  no 
more  irrigating  ditches,  for  the  rains  furnish  plenty  of  water. 


THE   ARAUCANIANS.  139 

See  the  big  trees  on  both  sides  of  the  railroad.  We 
have  at  last  come  into  the  forest  region  of  Chile,  which 
extends  from  here  to  the  Strait  of  Magellan. 

The  wheat  fields  we  are  now  passing  have  been  cut  out 
of  the  woods.  How  large  they  are !  They  look  like  our 
fields  in  the  new  lands  of  the  Northwest.  There  are 
stumps  in  them.  The  houses  of  the  poor  are  log  cabins. 
We  see  men  at  work  cutting  down  the  trees.  Those  long 
teams  of  oxen  are  dragging  out  lumber,  their  big,  soft  eyes 
looking  sadly  at  us  as  they  painfully  pull  the  heavy  loads 
along  by  their  heads. 

Notice  the  people  at  the  station.  How  different  they 
seem  from  the  rotos  we  saw  in  the  north!  They  are 
dark-faced  and  fierce-looking.  They  are  more  warmly 
clad.  The  men  wear  ponchos,  and  many  have  on  high 
boots  covered  with  mud. 

Listen  to  that  group  at  the  corner.  The  men  are  talk- 
ing German,  and  they  do  not  look  like  Chileans.  They 
are  German  settlers  who  have  come  here  from  Europe  to 
farm  the  land,  which  the  Chilean  government  sells  to  im- 
migrants at  a  very  low  price.  We  shall  see  more  Ger- 
mans in  the  towns  of  this  part  of  Chile.  At  Valdivia 
there  are  large  tanneries,  in  which  German  workmen 
make  fine  leather  for  shipment  to  Hamburg  and  Russia. 
The  trees  about  us  have  good  bark  for  tanning,  and  Chile 
has  so  many  cattle  that  hides  are  cheap. 

But  who  are  the  copper- colored  people  we  meet  every- 
where ?  They  wear  gorgeous  ponchos  woven  in  stripes  of 
bright  colors.  The  women  have  bare  arms.  Their  dresses 
seem  to  be  long  blankets  wrapped  tightly  over  their  chests 
and  falling  down  to  their  feet.  Some  have  square  earrings 
of  silver,  half  as  big  as  a  schoolbook  and  as  thick  as  one  of 
its  covers.     Others  have  silver  plates  on  their  bosoms,  and 


140 


CHILE. 


bands  of  silver  beads  about  their  necks  and  their  ankles. 
They  look  like  Indians,  but  they  are  not  dressed  like  our 
Indians  at  home. 

They  are  Indians.  They  are  the  descendants  of  the 
famed  Araucanians,  who  inhabited  Chile  at  the  time  the 
Spaniards  first  came.  They  were  noted  for  their  bravery, 
and  it  is  said  that  more  Spanish  lives  were  lost  in  attempts 


"  They  are  the  descendants  of  the  famed  Araucanians. 


to  conquer  them  than  in  all  the  wars  for  the  conquests  of 
Mexico  and  Peru.  Their  struggle  with  the  Spaniards 
lasted  more  than  a  century,  and  ended  by  leaving  to  the 
Araucanians  a  great  part  of  southern  Chile. 

Since  then  some  of  this  has  been  taken  away  year  after 
year,  and  now  the   lands   of   the  Araucanians   are  few. 


THE    ARAUCANIANS. 


141 


Alcohol  furnished  by  the  whites  has  made  them  a  nation 
of  drunkards,  and  their  bad  habits  are  fast  killing  them  off. 
They  are  now  less  in  number  than  when  they  first  fought 
the  Spaniards,  and  they  grow  fewer  and  fewer  each  year. 
The  Araucanians  have  different  tribes,  commanded  by 
chiefs,  although  many  of  them  live  on  farms  of  their  own. 
We  leave  our  train  and  visit  one  of  their  homes.     The 


"  We  visit  one  of  their  homes." 

house  is  more  like  a  shed  than  anything  else.  It  contains 
but  one  room  about  twenty  feet  square,  and  it  has  no 
wall  at  all  at  the  front,  the  open  side  being  faced  away 
from  the  wind.  Skins  are  drawn  over  this  side  when  the 
weather  is  cold. 

Take  a  look  at  the  roof.  It  is  made  of  skins  and  straw 
thatch.     The  walls  are  of  logs,  and  the  floor  is  of  dirt. 

Let  us  go  in.  How  black  everything  is!  You  can 
hardly  see  about  you  for  the  dense  smoke  which  comes 
from  that  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  hut.     It  is  built  in  a 


142  CHILE. 

hole  in  the  ground,  and  the  smoke  finds  its  way  out  as  it 
can. 

The  squaw  who  bends  over  the  fire  is  cooking  the  din- 
ner. She  has  a  pot  on  the  coals,  in  which  she  is  stewing 
mutton  and  vegetables  cut  up  in  small  pieces. 

Now  the  meal  is  ready,  and  our  host  asks  us  to  sit  down 
and  eat  with  him.  We  squat  on  the  floor,  and  each  takes 
a  spoon  and  dips  the  stew  out  of  the  pot.  The  women  of 
the  family  do  not  dine  with  us.  The  men  always  eat 
first,  the  Indian  women  standing  behind  them  like  servants 
and  taking  what  is  left.  How  hot  the  stew  is !  It  is  full 
of  red  pepper,  and  it  brings  the  tears  to  our  eyes. 

But  who  is  that  woman  who  has  come  in  during  the 
meal  and  started  another  fire  farther  back  in  the  hut  ?  That 
is  our  host's  other  wife.  An  Araucanian  often  has  more 
than  one  wife,  and  in  such  cases  each  wife  cooks  for  her- 
self. There  are  two  beds  on  the  different  sides  of  the  room, 
curtained  off  with  fur  rugs  or  blankets.  Each  bed  be- 
longs to  a  wife,  in  which  she  sleeps  with  her  own  children 
about  her. 

The  Araucanians  have  queer  notions  of  courtship. 
Marriage  with  them  is  largely,  a  matter  of  bargain  and  sale. 
A  father  expects  a  lot  of  presents  of  cattle,  sheep,  or 
horses  for  his  daughter,  and  until  these  are  promised  he 
will  not  consent  to  the  marriage. 

After  all  is  settled  the  young  man  comes  some  dark 
night  to  the  house  of  his  sweetheart  and  carries  her  off. 
The  girl  usually  knows  he  is  coming,  and  though  she  may 
want  to  be  married,  she  pretends  she  does  not.  She  has 
her  friends  with  her,  and  when  her  lover  and  his  friends 
break  in,  there  is  a  fight  between  the  men  and  the  women. 
The  men  try  to  carry  off  the  girl,  and  the  girl  and  her 
friends  use  all  their  powers  of  resistance.     At  last  the 


THE   ARAUCANIANS. 


143 


groom  drags  the  bride  out.  He  swings  her  upon  his  horse, 
and  jumping  behind  her,  goes  off  on  the  gallop,  making  for 
the  nearest  woods.  The  girl's  friends  follow  shrieking 
behind,  but  the  groom  of  course  soon  distances  them. 
Having  reached  the  forest,  he  takes  his  lady  love  into  its 
recesses,  and  there  they  spend  a  few  days.  After  this 
short  honeymoon  they  return  to  the  house  of  the  groom, 
and  are  then  looked  upon  as  married.  The  husband  now 
takes  his  presents  to  the  father  of 
his  wife,  and  the  young  couple  set-  '"  ''' '' ' 

tie  down. 

The  women  we  meet  seem  to  be 
happy.  They  are  kind  to  their 
children  and  are  fond  of  them. 
The  children  laugh  and  play  just 
as  our  children  do,  and  we  laugh 
ourselves  when  we  see  the  little 
papooses  smiling  at  us  out  of  the 
bundles  in  which  they  are  tied. 

Almost  as  soon  as  one  of  these 
Indian  babies  is  born  it  is  wrapped 
in  a  skin  or  cloth  and  tied  to  a 
framework  about  a  yard  high  and 
so  wide  that  it  will  easily  rest  on 
the  back  of  its  mother.  The  mo- 
ther carries  it  on  her  back  by  a 
strap  which  runs  around  her  head,  and  when  she  Is  tired 
she  takes  off  the  strap  and  stands  the  papoose  against  a 
tree  or  the  wall  of  her  hut.  She  keeps  it  thus  tied  up 
until  it  is  able  to  walk,  carrying  it  with  her  wherever  she 
goes. 

Some  of  the    Indian    women   are   skilled   in   weaving. 
They  spin  their  own  wool  and  weave  their  own  clothes. 


The  mother  carries  it 
on  her  back." 


144  CHILE. 

They  make  beautiful  blankets,  weaving  them  in  stripes  of 
red,  black,  and  blue. 

We  spend  a  day  moving  about  over  their  farms,  and 
notice  that  the  men  at  work  in  the  fields  are  often  of  the 
mixed  race.  The  Indians  employ  them  to  work  for  them 
rather  than  labor  themselves. 


y>9ic 


XIX.     IN    THE    COAL    MINES    OF    CHILE. 

WE  have  left  the  land  of  the  Araucanians  and  are  now 
in  the  city  of  Concepcion.  It  is  the  chief  port  of 
southern  Chile.  It  lies  a  few  miles  back  from  Arauco  Bay, 
where  we  expect  to  get  a  ship  for  the  Strait  of  Magellan. 

Concepcion  is  the  greatest  commercial  city  of  southern 
Chile,  and  its  people  say  it  will  soon  be  the  chief  seaport 
of  the  southern  Pacific.  It  has  two  excellent  harbors, 
Arauco  Bay  and  Talcahuano  (tal-ka-wah'no),  which  are 
near  by,  and  it  is  so  connected  by  railroads  with  all  parts 
of  the  country  that  it  has  a  great  trade.  The  city  has 
about  fifty  thousand  people.  It  is  a  flat  Spanish  town 
with  a  plaza  in  the  center,  and  streets  which  cross  one 
another  at  right  angles. 

This  part  of  Chile  is  especially  important  because  it 
contains  some  of  the  chief  coal  fields  of  the  Pacific  coast  of 
South  America.  There  is  but  little  coal  on  the  coast,  and 
coal  is  brought  here  by  the  shipload  from  Australia  and 
England.  The  coal  fields  of  Chile  lie  along  the  ocean 
shore  for  a  distance  of  almost  one  hundred  miles.  The  coal 
is  not  so  good  as  that  which  is  brought  from  abroad,  and 
it  must  be  sold  at  a  lower  price.  The  mines  are  so  close 
to  the  sea,  however,  that  they  can  be  worked  at  a  profit. 


COAL   MINES. 


U5 


Street  Scene,  Concepcion. 

It  is  for  coal  that  the  steamer  for  the  Strait  of  Magellan 
has  stopped  in  Arauco  Bay.  She  now  lies  at  anchor  near 
Lota,  with  great  barges  of  coal  by  her  side.  We  see 
sooty-faced  rotos  standing  in  the  barges  and  shoveling  the 
coal  on  board. 

The  ship  is  bound  for  Hamburg.  She  must  force  her 
way  through  the  ocean,  a  distance  of  about  five  thousand 
miles,  before  she  can  get  coal  again.  It  takes  a  vast  deal 
of  fuel  to  make  steam  for  such  a  big  ship.  This  vessel 
uses  more  in  one  day  than  many  families  can  consume  in 
a  year,  and  it  will  keep  the  rotos  shoveling  until  night  to 
load  up. 

As  we  go  on  board  the  captain  tells  us  we  have  time  to 
visit  one  of  the  mines.     We  are  tired,  and  at  first  think  it 


146 


CHILE. 


hardly  worth  while,  until  the  captain  says  that  the  coal 
beds  of  this  region  slope  from  the  land  down  under  the 
ocean,  and  that  the  coal  which  they  are  now  shoveling  on 
board  comes  from  under  the  sea. 

This  seems  very  strange.  So  we  call  a  small  boat  which 
is  near  the  ship,  waiting  for  passengers,  to  take  us  on  shore. 

We  are  soon  landed  at  the  entrance  to  one  of  the  great- 
est of  the  coal  mines.    The  works  above  ground  consist  of 


Entrance  to  a  Coal  Mine. 

large  buildings  situated  upon  little  islands  connected  with 
the  coast  by  a  railroad  built  upon  piers.  We  tell  the 
manager  that  we  wish  to  visit  his  mine,  and  he  kindly 
sends  a  guide  with  us. 

We  are  taken  to  a  great  shaft  or  well  in  which,  by  a 
steam  engine  and  pulleys,  two  elevators  are  raising  cars 
filled  with  coal  and  lowering  empty  cars  to  the  bottom. 

We  step  upon  the  elevator  that  is  just  going  down,  and 
drop  into  darkness.  Down,  down,  down  we  go,  until  at 
last  rays  of  light  shoot  up  from  below  us.  Our  speed 
grows  slower,  and  we  stop  before  a  long  tunnel  with  a  line 


COAL   MINES.  147 

of  electric  lights  extending  on  and  on  in  front  of  us,  grow- 
ing less  and  less  in  size  until  they  fade  into  stars  in  the 
distance. 

As  we  step  out  of  the  shaft  a  train  of  loaded  cars  comes 
thundering  toward  us,  and  we  see  that  they  are  moved 
by  an  overhead  trolley  like  the  electric  street  cars  of  some 
of  our  cities. 

But  there  is  another  train  going  back.  Can  we  get  on  ? 
Yes ;  a  special  car  with  seats  upon  it  has  been  attached  to 
the  train  for  us.  We  climb  upon  the  platform,  and  speed 
away  over  the  track  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour. 
Within  a  few  moments  we  leave  the  shore,  and  are  soon 
far  out  under  the  bed  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

We  are  moving  along  through  a  tunnel  which  has  been 
cut  out  of  the  great  sheet  of  coal  which  lies  down  here 
between  the  layers  of  rock.  As  we  go  on  we  pass  open- 
ings to  the  right  and  to  the  left.  They  are  the  entrances 
to  tunnels,  which  have  been  made  to  cut  out  the  coal. 

•Think  where  we  are!  We  are  hundreds  of  feet  down 
under  the  ocean,  and  big  steamers  are  floating  above  us. 
And  still  it  is  dry.  There  is  not  a  drop  on  our  clothes  or 
our  hats,  for  the  great  beds  of  rock  just  over  the  cars  are 
such  that  the  water  cannot  get  through. 

As  we  ride  on,  now  and  then  a  train  passes.  In  the 
tunnels  at  the  sides  we  see  half-naked  miners  covered  with 
dirt,  digging  out  the  coal  and  loading  it  upon  cars. 

What  is  that  boom,  boom,  boom  which  sounds  as  though 
the  sea  were  breaking  in  through  the  rocks  away  at  the 
right  ?  That  is  from  the  blasting  done  to  get  out  the  coal. 
There  is  no  danger  where  we  are  now,  but  we  must  look 
out,  for  if  such  an  explosion  occurred  near  us  it  might 
blow  us  to  pieces. 

What  a  great  mine  this  is !      There  are  hundreds  of  men 


148  CHILE. 

at  work  in  it,  and  vast  quantities  of  coal  are  taken  out 
every  day. 

We  return  to  the  shaft  on  a  train  with  twenty-seven 
cars  of  coal  in  front  of  us,  and  another  train  arrives  while 
we  are  waiting  to  ride  to  the  top. 

Again  we  are  back  on  the  steamer.  It  is  almost  ready 
to  sail.  It  has  loaded  nine  hundred  tons  of  coal  in  the 
last  twenty-four  hours.      Its  freight  has  been  packed  away 


"  In  the  tunnels  we  see  half-naked  miners." 

during  its  calls  at  the  various  ports  farther  north,  and 
within  a  few  moments  it  will  start  on  its  long  voyage  to 
Europe  around  through  the  Strait  of  Magellan. 

It  is  a  big  ship,  and  it  carries   a  vast  deal  of  freight. 
Below  deck  are  three  thousand  tons  of  nitrate  of  soda,  two 
thousand  barrels  of  liquid  honey,  and  great  rolls  of  sole* 
leather,  all  going  to  Europe.     We  have  wheat,  wine,  and 


COAL   MINES.  149 

flour  for  Punta  Arenas,  on  the  Strait  of  Magellan,  and 
similar  freight  for  Buenos  Aires  and  Montevideo. 

Everything  is  carefully  packed,  for  we  are  now  going 
into  some  of  the  stormiest  seas  of  the  world.  The  ex- 
treme southern  end  of  the  continent  may  be  called  the 
very  home  of  the  winds.  About  Cape  Horn  fierce 
winds  blow  all  the  year  through.  There  are  many  storms 
farther  north,  and  seamen  are  glad  when  they  reach  the 
Strait  of  Magellan,  in  which  the  waters  are  usually  quiet. 
It  is  by  the  Strait  of  Magellan  that  we  shall  go,  and  our 
steamer  will  avoid  some  of  the  storms  by  traveling  through 
the  narrow  channels  which  run  in  and  out  among  the  moun- 
tainous islands  along  the  west  coast.  This  is  the  Smythes 
Channel  route,  the  scenery  of  which  is  wonderfully  grand. 

We  are  anxious  to  be  off,  and  are  glad  when,  as  evening 
falls,  there  is  a  rattling  of  chains  and  the  anchor  is  raised. 
We  hear  the  thump,  thump,  thump  of  the  engines,  and  as 
we  go  to  bed  we  are  moving  out  of  the  smooth  waters  of 
Arauco  Bay  into  the  ocean. 

We  awake  to  find  the  ship  rolling.  We  have  to  hold 
to  our  berths  while  we  dress,  and  a  lurch  of  the  vessel 
often  sends  us  against  the  walls  of  our  rooms. 

We  climb  upstairs  to  the  deck,  and  bracing  ourselves 
against  the  rail  look  out  over  the  sea.  There  are  white- 
caps  everywhere.  The  waves  rise  and  fall  in  huge  masses. 
They  whip  the  ship,  striking  its  sides  with  a  noise  like  a 
cannon.  Now  a  great  wave  dashes  over  the  lower  deck, 
and  now  a  still  higher  one  splashes  over  the  top,  flooding 
everything  and  making  us  run  to  our  cabins. 

When  we  sit  down  at  dinner  there  is  a  network  of  slats 
upon  the  table  to  hold  the  plates,  cups,  and  other  dishes, 
that  a  lurch  of  the  ship  may  not  send  them  into  our  laps. 
We  lift  our  soup  plates  halfway  to  our  mouths  and  balance 


ISO  CHILE. 

them  with  the  roll  of  the  vessel,  trying  at  the  same  time 
to  get  our  spoons  between  our  lips  without  spilling  the 
soup. 

How  few  of  the  girls  have  come  down  to  dinner!  They 
are  more  subject  to  seasickness  than  the  boys,  and  prefer 
to  stay  in  bed  in  their  cabins.  Some  of  the  boys  are  sea- 
sick too,  and  even  the  bravest  of  us  does  not  care  quite  so 
much  for  his  food  as  he  did  upon  land. 

A  day  or  so  later  we  have  grown  used  to  the  motion 
and  are  all  upon  deck.  We  enjoy  the  changes  which 
the  rough  sea  and  the  storms  bring  every  hour.  Now 
we  are  shrouded  in  mist,  and  every  few  minutes  the  fog- 
horn blows  to  warn  other  ships  to  keep  out  of  our  way. 
Now  the  fog  lifts,  and  we  see  high  waves  rolling  about 
on  all  sides.  There  is  a  break  in  the  clouds,  and  away  off 
to  the  east  is  a  faint  line  of  blue.  That  is  the  long,  nar- 
row island  of  Chiloe  (che-lo-a') ;  the  mainland  is  much 
farther  off.  We  are  fortunate  in  securing  a  view,  for  in 
the  winter  in  Chiloe  the  natives  say  it  rains  six  days  every 
week,  and  on  the  seventh  the  sky  is  much  overcast.  In 
the  summer  there  are  a  few  pleasant  days,  but  even  then 
the  island  is  half  shrouded  in  mist. 

There  is  more  fog  and  snow  as  we  sail  on  southward. 
The  sea  is  still  rough,  and  we  cannot  safely  walk  about 
the  deck  until  we  enter  the  Gulf  of  Peiias,  from  which 
we  are  to  sail  inward  on  our  way  through  Smythes 
Channel. 

It  is  only  four  o'clock  when  we  enter  the  gulf,  but  it  is 
already  quite  dark.  We  are  now  so  far  south  that  in 
winter  night  begins  very  early,  and  the  electric  lights  are 
already  turned  on.  The  ship  moves  very  gently,  and 
when  we  go  to  sleep  we  feel  no  more  motion  than  when 
in  our  own  beds  at  home. 


STRAIT   OF   MAGELLAN.  I51 


XX.     IN   AND   ABOUT  THE   STRAIT   OF 
MAGELLAN. 

WE  have  been  moving  slowly  all  night,  and  awake  to 
find  the  waves  gone.  We  have  left  the  open  Pacific 
and  are  passing  through  the  series  of  channels,  about  four 
hundred  miles  long,  which  winds  in  and  out  among  the 
islands  of  western  Patagonia  and  will  bring  us  at  last  to 
the  Strait  of  Magellan. 

The  scenes  about  us  are  among  the  grandest  of  the 
world.  There  are  mountains  on  all  sides.  We  are  sail- 
ing amongst  their  tops  and  are  in  a  land  of  clouds.  The 
channel  is  more  like  a  narrow  river  than  a  branch  of  the 
ocean.  It  carries  us  in  and  out  among  rocky,  grass-clad 
islands.  On  our  left,  ragged  mountains  of  curious  shapes 
rise  almost  straight  up  from  the  water.  Their  sides  near 
the  shore  are  green,  and  we  see  they  are  matted  with  moss 
and  evergreen  trees.  Higher  up,  the  green  is  dusted 
with  snow,  and  at  the  top  there  is  ice.  Some  of  the  peaks 
are  half  hidden  in  vapor.  Others,  nearer  our  vessel,  stand 
out  bold  and  clear — great  masses  of  dark-green  velvet 
under  a  lavender  sky. 

As  we  sail  on  the  scenery  changes.  The  mountains  as- 
sume curious  shapes,  and  we  imagine  pictures  in  them  such 
as  you  sometimes  see  in  the  clouds.  There  is  one  that 
looks  like  the  Great  Pyramid  of  Egypt,  and  there  is  an- 
other which  has  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  Sphinx. 
Now  the  green  hills  in  front  of  us  appear  to  be  climbing 
over  one  another  like  a  troop  of  giants  playing  leapfrog, 
and  there  farther  on  they  rise  upward  in  cathedrals  and 
forts  of  green  a  thousand  feet  high. 

CARP.  S,  AM. — IC 


152  CHILE. 

Now  the  sun  comes  out.  It  has  penetrated  that  deep 
gorge  in  the  mountains  and  turned  the  black  water  to  sil- 
ver. It  catches  the  snow  which  is  dusted  over  the  green 
on  the  hills,  and  they  are  spangled  with  diamonds.  It  has 
caught  the  ice  of  that  glacier  and  made  it  an  immense 
lump  of  sapphire  ice  set  in  silvery  snow. 

Now  the  clouds  are  settling  down  upon  the  channel  and 
hiding  the  sun.  See,  there  is  a  wall  of  them  in  front  of 
it.  We  are  saiHng  into  a  snowstorm.  A  half-hour  later 
we  shall  sail  out  into  the  sun  again. 

How  the  sky  changes !  Now  it  is  blue  overhead,  with 
fleecy  white  clouds  scattered  here  and  there  through  it. 
See  those  cloud  masses  nestling  in  the  velvety  laps  of  the 
hills  and  wrapping  themselves  about  the  snowy  peaks  as 
though  to  warm  them.  Now  the  clouds  seem  to  rise  from 
the  water,  making  a  wall  across  the  channel  as  high  as 
our  ship.  Now  they  come  down  from  the  top,  and  we  sail 
out  of  the  dry  air  into  a  mist  so  thick  that  we  can  almost 
wash  our  hands  in  it  as  we  go  through. 

Again  we  are  out  of  the  clouds.  The  air  is  clear.  The 
sun  is  bathing  the  hills  with  its  rays.  The  ferns,  moss, 
and  trees  shine  out  in  their  green  luxuriance,  and  the 
many  cascades,  some  as  big  as  your  wrist  and  others  no 
larger  than  your  httle  finger,  which  fall  down  them,  are 
threads  and  cords  and  ropes  of  silver. 

These  waterfalls  come  from  the  glaciers  and  the  moun- 
tain snows. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  moss  and  green  trees  can  grow 
so  luxuriantly  amid  such  surroundings?  Yes;  but  it  is 
only  on  the  highest  peaks  that  it  is  all  snow  and  ice. 
Those  trees  are  evergreens,  and  they  are  so  close  to- 
gether that  if  we  should  land  we  might  walk  on  their 
tops  with  snowshoes.     A  bed  of  moss,  waist  deep,  grows 


STRAIT    OF    MAGELLAN.  153 

among  them,  and  great  ferns  with  leaves  as  long  as  your 
arms  extend  out  and  cover  every  bare,  rocky  spot. 

The  glaciers  which  are  found  on  the  higher  mountains 
extend  down  into  the  green,  and  now  and  then  icebergs 
break  off  and  fill  up  the  channels.  During  some  years 
this  voyage  is  not  possible,  and,  as  it  is,  we  make  our  way 
a  part  of  the  journey  through  fields  of  glacial  ice.  It  is 
not  like  the  ice  of  our  rivers  and  lakes.  It  is  as  clear  as 
crystal,  and  green  rather  than  white. 

There  is  a  little  iceberg  now  in  front  of  the  ship.  It 
is  not  bigger  than  a  city  lot,  and  it  does  not  extend  out  of 
the  water  so  high  as  the  deck.  It  is  beautifully  green, 
and  as  the  sun  catches  it  it  looks  like  a  great  emerald  rock 
with  a  top  of  frosted  silver. 

But  the  machinery  is  stopping!  What  is  the  matter? 
The  captain  tells  us  he  is  going  to  get  some  ice  from  that 
berg  for  the  ship.  The  sailors  are  already  bending  over 
the  rails.  One  of  them  has  a  long  rope  in  his  hands,  with 
a  running  noose  at  its  end.  Now  he  gives  it  a  throw. 
The  coil  flies  out,  and  the  noose  catches  on  a  projection  of 
one  corner  of  the  iceberg.  We  have  heard  of  lassoing  cat- 
tle, but  we  have  never  heard  of  lassoing  an  iceberg  before. 
Is  it  not  strange  ?  Yes,  but  not  such  a  bad  way  after  all. 
The  other  end  of  the  rope  is  fastened  to  a  wheel  on  deck 
moved  by  our  steam  engine,  and  as  the  wheel  turns  the 
rope  is  rolled  up  and  the  iceberg  dragged  close  to  the  ship. 

Now  the  steward  and  some  of  the  sailors  have  taken  one 
of  the  ship's  boats  and  landed  upon  it.  They  are  break- 
ing off  great  lumps  of  ice  with  crowbars.  They  wrap 
chains  about  the  ice  blocks,  and  by  means  of  a  derrick  the 
machinery  of  the  steamer  raises  the  blocks  to  the  deck. 
Some  of  the  blocks  weigh  many  tons,  and  altogether  we 
have  got  enough  ice  to  last  us  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage. 


154 


CHILE. 


But  what  are  those  queer-looking  boats  which  are  mak- 
ing out  from  the  shore  ?  They  look  Hke  canoes,  and  each 
has  a  fire  in  its  center,  about  which  huddle  brown-skinned, 
frowzy-headed  men,  women,  and  children,  almost  naked. 
That  man  who  is  paddling  the  front  boat  wears  little  more 
than  a  vest,  and  that  boat  behind  contains  several  children 
who  have  on  no  clothes  at  all. 


Each  has  a  fire  in  its  center." 


These  people  are  some  of  the  savages  who  live  in  these 
waters  along  the  coast  of  western  Patagonia.  They  are 
called  Alacalufes  (a-la-ka-loo'fes).  They  are  not  like  the 
Indians  we  have  in  America.  They  usually  live  in  their 
canoes,  although  they  sometimes  sleep  upon  land  in  little 
wigwams  about  as  high  as  your  waist.  They  make  the 
wigwams  by  bending  over  the  branches  of  small  trees  and 


STRAIT   OF    MAGELLAN.  155 

tying  them  together.  They  then  build  a  fire  in  front,  and 
crawl  into  their  little  houses  for  the  night. 

They  seldom  sleep  in  the  same  place  for  more  than  a 
week  at  a  time,  for  it  is  much  easier  to  build  a  new  house 
than  to  go  back  home  if  they  have  wandered  very  far  off. 

The  men  have  bows  and  arrows  to  defend  themselves. 
The  women,  as  a  rule,  do  the  fishing,  using  lines  without 


Alacalufes. 

hooks.  A  little  chunk  of  meat  is  tied  to  the  end  of  the 
Hne,  and  when  the  fish  has  swallowed  it  the  woman  jerks 
it  into  her  canoe. 

Their  food  consists  of  fish,  mussels,  and  now  and  then 
a  fox,  a  seal,  or  an  otter.  They  are  fond  of  whale  meat, 
and  if  they  can  find  a  dead  whale  they  will  feast  upon  it 
for  weeks.     They  do  not  seem  to  care  to  have  the  meat 


156  CHILE. 

fresh,  for  they  cut  it  in  pieces  and  bury  it,  digging  it  up 
for  food  as  long  as  it  lasts.  They  are  fond  of  tobacco  and 
biscuits,  and  row  about  our  ship,  holding  out  their  hands 
and  calling  out  in  shrill  voices,  **Galleta!  Galleta!  " 
"  Tabaco !  Tabaco !  "  the  two  Spanish  words  for  cake  and 
tobacco. 

As  we  look  we  wonder  that  they  do  not  take  cold.  The 
hills  on  the  shore  are  covered  with  snow,  and  we  have  on 
our  heaviest  clothing.  There  is  not  enough  cloth  in  the 
whole  crowd  below  us  to  make  a  full  suit  for  a  four-year- 
old  child.  We  pity  the  poor  naked  savages,  and  one  of  us 
goes  to  his  cabin  and  gets  out  a  pair  of  old  trousers.  He 
throws  them  down  into  one  of  the  boats.  See,  that 
woman  has  grabbed  them.  She  evidently  does  not  know 
what  they  are  for,  as  she  is  tying  them  around  her  neck, 
fastening  the  legs  over  the  chest.  Until  white  people 
came  here  these  savages  used  no  clothes  at  all.  A  thick 
coat  of  whale  oil  or  seal  oil  was  enough  to  keep  out  the 
cold.  Now  they  sometimes  wear  such  cast-off  things  as 
they  can  get  from  the  steamers,  but  as  a  rule  they  go 
naked. 

The  Alacalufes  do  not  know  the  use  of  money.  We  try 
to  buy  some  skins  of  them,  and  they  sneer  and  draw  back 
at  the  sight  of  our  silver  dollars  and  bank  notes.  They 
act  differently  as  we  show  them  some  bright  cloths  and 
beads,  and  when  the  steward  holds  up  a  butcher  knife  one 
of  the  savages  is  glad  to  give  him  two  skins  in  exchange. 
We  ask  them  to  come  on  board,  but  they  are  afraid  and 
draw  back.  They  are  not  friendly  to  strangers,  and  would 
kill  a  white  man  if  they  could  catch  one  alone. 

We  see  more  savages  on  our  way  farther  south.  We 
cast  anchor  night  after  night,  for  it  is  too  dangerous  to 
travel  by  dark.     The  scenery  grows  grander  and  grander. 


STRAIT    OF    MAGELLAN. 


157 


until  at  last  we  steam  through  a  narrow  channel  the 
mouth  of  which  seems  to  be  blocked  by  a  great  island. 
As  we  come  nearer  we  see  that  there  is  a  wide  waterway 
beyond,  and  the  captain  tells  us  the  island  is  called  Desola- 
tion Island,  and  that  we  are  at  last  in  the  Strait  of  Magellan. 


Strait  of  Magellan. 


Standing  upon  the  deck  as  our  ship  turns  to  the  east,  we 
look  back,  and  away  off  in  the  distance  see  massive  rocks. 
They  belong  to  Cape  Pilar,  at  the  entrance  to  the  strait 
from  the  Pacific,  In  front  of  us  the  strait  extends  for  a 
distance  of  more  than  three  hundred  miles,  winding  its 
way  in  and  out  between  the  mainland  of  Patagonia  and 
the  islands  of  the  archipelago  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  until 
it  opens  out  into  the  Atlantic. 

Its  scenery,  however,  is  not  so  grand  as  that  of  Smythes 
Channel.     In  passing  through  the  strait  we  are  at  times 


158 


CHILE. 


within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  shore.  We  sail  under  great 
mountains,  and  often  in  the  distance  see  the  high  peaks 
of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  and  of  others  of  the  islands  of  the 
archipelago.  At  the  eastern  end  the  channel  is  wider. 
The  land  is  low,  and  the  waters  almost  bound  the  horizon. 


The  Strait  of  Magellan  is  one  of  the  commercial  high- 
ways of  the  world.  It  was  discovered  in  1520  by  a  Span- 
ish navigator,  Ferdinand  Magellan,  and  has  been  explored 
by  other  navigators  from  time  to  time. 

For  many  years,  however,  the  regions  about  it  were 
little  known,  and  for  a  time  some  supposed  that  Tierra 


AT  THE    END    OF   THE    CONTINENT.  1 59 

del  Fuego  belonged  to  another  continent  which  extended 
farther  to  the  south. 

The  strait  is  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long, 
and  it  varies  in  width  from  two  to  twenty-four  miles.  It 
has  deep  waters  all  the  way  through,  but  it  winds  about 
so  that  large  saihng  vessels,  on  account  of  the  winds, 
prefer  to  go  about  stormy  Cape  Horn,  although  this  takes 
them  many  hundred  miles  out  of  their  way. 

It  is  different  with  steamers.  They  can  move  as  well  in 
the  calms  as  when  the  wind  blows.  All  steamers  cross- 
ing the  Atlantic  between  Australia  and  Europe,  and  those 
going  to  and  from  the  east  and  west  coasts  of  South 
America,  pass  through  the  strait.  There  are  indeed  so 
many  ships  that  a  city  has  grown  up  there  on  the  tail  end 
of  the  continent  to  furnish  them  coal  and  other  supplies. 
This  city  is  about  midway  through  the  strait.  It  is  called 
Punta  Arenas,  or  Sandy  Point,  and  here  we  shall  stay  for 
a  time. 

XXI.     AT  THE    END    OF   THE    CONTINENT. 

PUNTA  ARENAS  is  the  southernmost  city  of  the 
world.  It  is  so  far  along  on  the  other  side  of  the 
globe  that  people  who  live  near  our  Canadian  border  would 
have  to  travel  a  distance  as  great  as  the  diameter  of  the 
earth  to  get  to  it.  It  is  at  the  very  end  of  the  continent, 
a  thousand  miles  nearer  the  south  pole  than  Cape  Town, 
and  several  thousand  miles  farther  south  than  any  city  of 
Europe  or  Asia. 

It  is  a  lonesome  city.  There  is  no  town  of  any  size 
within  a  thousand  miles  of  it,  and  its  supplies  are  brought 
to  it  by  steamers.     Great  stores  of  coal  and  other  goods 


i6o 


CHILE. 


are  kept  in  Punta  Arenas,  for  the  ships  passing  through  the 
strait  often  stop  here  to  lay  in  a  new  stock  of  coal  and  other 
things  for  the  long  voyages  which  they  have  yet  to  make. 


Punta  Arenas. 


We  find  English  and  German  ships  in  the  harbor,  and 
there  is  a  great  steamer  from  New  Zealand  at  anchor, 
with  lighters  beside  her,  and  men  loading  and  unloading 
freight. 

We  step  out  of  our  boat  upon  a  pier,  and  by  a  short 
walk  are  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  What  a  queer  place  it 
is!  It  consists  of  scattered  buildings  built  on  the  sides  of 
the  hills  surrounding  the  harbor. 

It  has  been  cut  out  of  the  forest,  and  it  reminds  us  of  the 
frontier  towns  of  our  wooded  Northwest.  See  the  stumps 
in  that  vacant  lot  over  there,  and  look  at  those  trees 
on  the  hills  at  the  back.     Keep  to  the  sidewalks.     The 


AT   THE    END    OF   THE    CONTINENT. 


161 


Streets  are  a  mass  of  black  mud,  with  here  and  there  a 
puddle  of  water.  See  that  team  of  oxen  dragging  its 
heavy  cart  through  the  mud.  The  wheels  have  sunk  in 
to  their  hubs,  and  the  eyes  of  the  oxen  almost  pop  out  as 
they  try  to  pull  them  on  by  the  yokes  tied  to  their  horns. 
What  queer-looking  houses !  Few  of  them  are  of  more 
than  one  story,  and  all  have  iron  roofs.  Many  of  the 
walls  are  made  of  sheets  of  galvanized  iron ;  others  are  of 
logs  or  boards.  It  is  only  in  the  business  parts  of  the 
city  that  there  is  stone  or  brick.  None  of  the  smaller 
buildings  have  chimneys.  Those  stovepipes  sticking  out 
of  the  windows,  with  elbows  upturned,  take  their  places. 


Police  Station,  Punta  Arenas. 


What  is  that  long,  low  structure  of  galvanized  iron 
whose  walls  are  wrinkled  up  like  a  washboard?  There 
are  soldiers  in  front,  with  swords  at  their  sides.     That  is 


1 62  CHILE. 

the  police  station.  Those  soldiers  are  under  the  governor 
of  the  territory  of  the  Magellans,  who  lives  in  a  big  house 
on  the  other  side  of  the  square.  He  is  appointed  by  the 
president  of  Chile,  and  has  charge  of  this  city,  of  the 
greater  part  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  and  of  the  thousands  of 
islands  of  these  far-away  seas. 

But  what  kind  of  people  live  away  down  here  at  this 
tail  end  of  creation?  •  We  can  learn  from  the  men  we 
see  standing  in  knots  on  the  corners  of  the  streets  or  pass- 
ing us  as  we  go  through  the  city.  The  most  of  them  have 
their  trousers  tucked  into  their  boots.  They  are  roughly 
dressed.  Many  have  long  beards,  and  there  are  some  we 
would  not  like  to  meet  after  dark. 

They  come  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  They  are  talk- 
ing together  in  German,  Spanish,  Italian,  and  Russian,  and 
we  often  hear  them  speaking  English  and  French.  Here 
come  two  who  are  chatting  in  English.  We  hear  the 
words  "sheep"  and  "sheep  farming."  This  is  one  of 
the  chief  sheep  raising  parts  of  South  America,  and  the 
men  in  high  boots  are  shepherds  who  have  come  to  Punta 
Arenas  to  purchase  supplies.  Some  live  far  north  in  Pata- 
gonia, and  others  have  come  from  the  sheep  farms  in 
Tierra  del  Fuego,  across  the  strait. 

As  we  go  through  the  business  part  of  the  city  we  see 
that  there  are  also  many  persons  well  dressed.  The 
stores  are  quite  large,  and  we  learn  that  Punta  Arenas  has 
a  big  trade.  Some  of  its  houses  are  comfortable.  It  has 
a  theater,  churches,  and  schools,  and  we  are  surpris'ed  at 
the  modern  improvements  which  exist  in  this  almost  un- 
known part  of  the  globe. 

But  we  must  not  leave  the  Magellans  without  making 
a  tour  through  the  great  archipelago  south  of  the  strait. 
It  is  composed  of  thousands  of  wooded  islands  which  look 


AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CONTINENT.       I63 

very  small  on  the  map.  Many  of  them  are  small,  but  all 
together  they  contain  as  much  land  as  Kansas,  and  sev- 
eral are  quite  large,  Tierra  del  Fuego  proper  being  as  large 
as  Ohio.  It  lies  just  across  the  strait  from  Punta  Arenas. 
There  is  a  tugboat  which  goes  there  three  times  a  week, 
and  upon  it  we  take  passage  for  Port  Venir  (ve-neer'),  a 
little  town  where  the  Chilean  authorities  on  the  island  live. 
From  here  we  make  excursions  by  boat  and  land  about 
this  curious  country. 

The  island  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  has  a  rim  of  mountains 
around  the  greater  part  of  it.  The  mountains  rise  in  many 
places  almost  precipitously  from  the  water,  and  upon  them 
great  glaciers  hang  down,  now  and  then  breaking  off  and 
falling  into  the  sea  with  a  terrible  noise.  The  scenery  is 
even  grander  than  that  of  the  strait,  but  the  waters  are 
often  rough,  and  we  have  to  move  about  very  slowly. 

At  some  places  we  see  men  washing  the  sands  on  the 
shore  for  gold.  There  are  gold  ledges  in  some  parts  of 
Tierra  del  Fuego  which  run  far  out  into  the  sea.  Here  in 
time  of  storms  the  gold  dust  and  nuggets  are  often  thrown 
up  on  the  beach.  The  miners  go  out  as  far  as  they  can  at 
low  tide  and  gather  up  the  sand,  looking  carefully  over  it 
for  gold.  Some  of  the  gold  is  found  in  lumps  as  big  as 
marrowfat  peas.  The  precious  metal,  however,  is  difficult 
to  get,  and  the  men  often  work  a  long  time  in  vain. 

But  let  us  go  inland  and  see  something  of  the  interior 
of  Tierra  del  Fuego.  What  a  rich  vegetation  there  is 
everywhere !  We  thought  it  was  all  snow  and  ice.  We 
imagined  it  must  be  the  bleakest  part  of  the  globe.  It  is, 
however,  far  different.  It  is  only  on  the  tops  of  the 
mountains  that  the  snow  remains  all  the  year  round,  and 
the  glaciers  which  move  down  their  slopes  are  often 
bedded  in  green.     The  mountain  slopes,  for  a  thousand 


l64  CHILE. 

feet  up  from  the  water,  are  covered  with  trees,  ferns,  and 
moss  so  thick  that  we  can  hardly  crawl  through  them. 

How  big  the  trees  are!  Some  of  the  beeches  are  as 
tall  as  an  eight-story  building,  and  six  feet  in  thickness. 
There  are  great  magnolia  trees  and  other  trees  somewhat 
like  those  of  our  central  states.  Nearly  all  of  the  trees 
are  of  the  evergreen  variety,  and  both  trees  and  grass  are 
green  here  the  year  round. 

Over  the  mountains  there  are  great  plains  of  rich  grass, 
which  in  the  summer  are  spotted  with  wild  flowers.  There 
are  wild  gooseberries  and  wild  raspberries.  Wild  straw- 
berries of  large  size  are  found  in  their  season,  and  there 
are  also  wild  grapes  and  wild  celery.  The  sheep  farmers 
raise  cabbages,  potatoes,  turnips,  and  peas  in  their  gar- 
dens, and  the  pastures  are  so  good  that  the  sheep  quickly 
grow  fat. 

We  make  our  way  inland  to  visit  the  sheep  farms.  The 
country  in  places  is  swampy  and  boggy,  and  as  we  ride  on 
our  horses  over  the  plains  we  go  very  slowly  because  of 
the  rats.  The  ground  rats  are  one  of  the  great  pests  of 
this  region.  They  burrow  through  the  earth,  filling  it  with 
holes  like  a  prairie  dog  town.  They  eat  so  much  grass 
that  the  shepherds  are  anxious  to  destroy  them.  They 
do  this  by  driving  herds  of  cattle  over  the  plains,  which 
trample  the  rats  to  death. 

We  find  that  the  sheep  are  kept  in  flocks  of  one  and 
two  thousand.  Each  flock  is  allotted  a  piece  of  land 
about  as  large  as  one  of  our  townships,  and  it  is  watched 
by  its  own  shepherd  on  horseback. 

The  shepherd  has  dogs  to  help  him.  Most  of  the  dogs 
are  Scotch  collies,  which  are  very  intelligent.  They  un- 
derstand their  masters  almost  as  well  as  though  they 
understood    language.      When   the    shepherd    makes    a 


AT   THE    END    OF   THE    CONTINENT.  1 65 

motion  to  the  front,  they  run  ahead;  if  he  motions  to 
the  rear,  they  come  back ;  and  when  he  raises  his  hand  in 
the  air,  they  stop  short.  Other  motions  will  send  them  to 
the  right  and  left,  and,  in  fact,  as  we  see  them  driving  the 
sheep  this  way  and  that  in  response  to  their  master's 
orders,  we  think  that  human  beings  could  .not  do  better. 

The  shepherds  do  not  feed  the  sheep.  It  is  their  busi- 
ness to  see  that  they  do  not  get  lost,  to  keep  off  the  pan- 
thers and  Indians,  and  to  look  out  for  the  vultures.  The 
sheep  are  so  fat  and  heavy  that  when  they  fall  down  and 
roll  over  on  their  backs  they  cannot  get  up.  They  lie  there 
kicking.  The  vultures  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  are  very  cun- 
ning birds,  and  when  they  see  a  sheep  in  this  helpless  con- 
dition, they  swoop  down  upon  him  and  pick  out  his  eyes. 
The  poor  sheep  is  now  blind.  The  vultures  keep  picking 
at  him,  and  he  soon  dies.  They  now  quickly  tear  off  the 
skin  and  pick  every  bit  of  meat  from  the  bones.  It  is  the 
shepherd's  duty  to  be  on  h^nd  when  a  sheep  falls  and  to 
help  him  to  his  feet  again,  and  also  to  get  him  out  of  the 
bogs  if  he  should  fall  in. 

Another  great  danger  is  from  the  Indians.  Tierra  del 
Fuego  contains  some  fierce  savages  called  Onas,  who  wage 
war  with  the  shepherds  and  kill  them  whenever  they  can. 
They  steal  in  at  night  and  drive  off  the  sheep  in  flocks  of 
five  hundred  or  more,  and  when  they  get  them  far  away 
in  the  forests  they  have  a  big  feast.  The  Indian  bands 
are  not  large,  and  of  course  they  cannot  eat  so  many  sheep 
at  a  time.  They  kill  what  are  left  over,  however,  and  bury 
them  in  some  deep  stream  or  in  the  ground,  leaving  them 
there  until  the  chase  of  the  shepherds  is  over,  when  they 
go  back  and  eat  the  decayed  flesh. 

Are  not  these  curious  Indians?  Yes;  and,  strange  to 
say,  they  are  among  the  finest-looking  of  the  Indians  of  our 


1 66  CHILE. 

hemisphere.  The  men  are  usually  about  six  feet  tall,  and 
the  women  are  of  about  the  same  height  as  our  women. 
The  Onas  have  high  cheekbones,  flat  noses,  and  dark  eyes. 
Their  hair  is  black  and  straight.  The  men  singe  their 
heads  close  at  the  crown,  and  the  women  let  their  hair 
grow  so  that  it;  hangs  down  over  their  shoulders. 


Onas. 

The  Ona  Indians  wear  but  little  clothing,  except  loose 
skins  which  they  wrap  about  their  bodies.  They  live 
chiefly  on  the  land,  but  do  not  like  to  stay  more  than  a 
night  or  two  in  the  same  place,  for  they  have  an  idea  that 
the  evil  spirit  is  after  them,  and  that  they  must  move  on 
or  he  will  catch  them.  So  they  have  no  fixed  homes. 
When  they  stop,  they  merely  make  a  hole  in  the  ground 
about  three  feet  deep  and  weave  branches  over  it.     Here 


PATAGONIA.  167 

at  night  they  crawl  in  and  cuddle  together,  with  their  dogs 
about  them  for  warmth. 

The  chief  weapons  of  the  Onas  are  bows  and  arrows,  and 
they  get  their  food  by  hunting  and  trapping. 

Before  we  leave  Tierra  del  Fuego  we  visit  another  tribe 
of  Indians,  which  has  now  become  partially  civilized. 
This  tribe  is  the  Yaghan  (ya'gan),  which  is  largely  con- 
fined to  the  southern  part  of  Tierra  del  Fuego.  Its  peo- 
ple are  much  like  the  Onas,  except  that  they  are  smaller. 
They  get  their  living  from  the  sea  rather  than  from  the 
land. 

The  Yaghans  eat  mollusks,  fish,  birds,  and  fungi.  They 
cook  birds  by  putting  red-hot  stones  inside  of  them  and 
then  placing  the  birds  on  the  coals.  They  have  an  odd 
way  of  roasting  eggs.  They  break  a  hole  in  one  end  of 
the  egg  and  stand  it  upright  in  the  ashes  before  the  fire, 
turning  it  round  and  round  to  make  it  cook  evenly. 

They  are  very  good  hunters,  and  the  women  are  excel- 
lent fishers,  being  more  fearless  in  the  management  of 
their  boats  and  in  swimming  than  the  men. 


3>«C 


XXII.     IN    ARGENTINA— PATAGONIA. 

THIS  morning  we  are  again  in  Punta  Arenas,  ready  to 
start  up  the  eastern  side  of  the  continent.  We  shall 
make  our  way  north  through  Patagonia,  and  for  the  next 
few  weeks  shall  be  traveling  in  Argentina. 

Argentina  is  one  of  the  richest  and  most  healthful 
countries  of  South  America.  It  has  a  vast  territory.  It 
is  greater  than  the  combined  areas  of  our  States  east  of  the 
Mississippi  river.     It  is  twelve  times  as  large  as  Great 

CARP.  S.  AM. — II 


1 68  ARGENTINA. 

Britain.  It  extends  a  long  distance  from  north  to  south, 
having  many  different  dimates  and  products.  In  the  north 
sugar  cane,  cocoanuts,  and  oranges  grow ;  in  the  central 
provinces  are  wheatfields  and  rich  pastures;  while  in  the 
far  south  the  country  is  almost  altogether  a  sandy  desert, 
with  a  climate  somewhat  like  that  of  southern  California. 

The  most  of  the  country  is  flat.  It  is  composed  of 
great  plains  called  pampas,  upon  which  we  may  travel 
hundreds  of  miles  without  seeing  a  hill.  There  are  only 
a  few  low  mountain  ranges.  The  most  of  the  land  is 
covered  with  pasture.  On  the  western  side  of  the  coun- 
try are  the  lofty  Andes,  which  we  saw  in  Chile. 

Only  a  small  part  of  the  country  is  settled.  There  are 
now  many  more  people  in  the  State  of  New  York  than  in 
Argentina.  The  population,  however,  is  rapidly  increasing. 
Immigrants  are  coming  in  from  Europe  to  work  in  the 
cities  or  to  raise  wheat,  cattle,  and  sheep  in  the  country. 
So  many  people  have  come  that  every  third  man  is  a 
foreigner.  The  most  of  the  immigrants  are  from  southern 
Europe.  They  have  come  chiefly  from  Italy  and  Spain, 
although  there  are  a  few  English,  Germans,  and  French. 
We  shall  find  the  people  far  different  from  those  of  the 
west  coast.  There  are  not  so  many  Indians,  and  there  are 
many  Italians. 

Our  first  tour  Is  to  be  over  the  rough  lands  of  the  far 
south.  A  coasting  ship  takes  us  from  Punta  Arenas  out 
through  the  east  end  of  the  Strait  of  Magellan.  We 
round  Cape  Virgin,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  strait,  and 
make  our  way  along  the  coast,  calling  at  the  ports  of  Pata- 
gonia, and  now  and  then  stopping  for  a  short  run  into  the 
interior. 

How  bleak  and  bare  everything  is!  The  whole  coun- 
try seems  to  be  nothing  but  sand.     The  only  green  spot 


PATAGONIA.  169 

is  where  we  stop  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Chubut  to  visit 
a  colony  of  Welsh  shepherds  who  have  come  there  to  live. 
They  have  irrigated  the  land  along  the  river  and  have  rich 
crops  of  wheat. 

Now  we  are  again  on  the  sea,  going  north,  and  now  we 
sail  up  the  deep  but  narrow  harbor  of  Bahia  Blanca  (ba- 
he'a  blan'ca),  on  the  edge  of  a  more  fertile  part  of  the 
country. 

Bahia  Blanca  is  the  chief  port  of  Argentina  on  the 
Atlantic.  Buenos  Aires,  it  is  true,  is  a  much  larger  city, 
but  it  is  on  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  two  hundred  miles  inland 
from  the  ocean.  Bahia  Blanca  is  right  on  the  sea.  It  has 
a  good  harbor,  and  the  town  which  has  grown  uf.  here  is 
now  accessible  to  all  parts  of  the  country  by  railroad. 

A  railroad  has  been  built  from  it  across  the  desert 
pampas  to  the  foot  of  the  Andes.  It  will  soon  go  over  the 
Andes  through  a  low  pass,  and  then  crossing  Chile  will  end 
at  the  port  of  Valdivia,  on  the  Pacific.  This  will  make  a 
much  shorter  route  from  ocean  to  ocean  than  the  Trans- 
andine  Railroad  farther  north. 

Let  us  take  the  new  railroad  and  ride  over  the  pampas 
to  the  foot  of  the  Andes,  stopping  now  and  then  on  the 
way.  What  a  curious  region  it  is!  We  go  for  miles  see- 
ing nothing  but  sand,  with  thorny,  scrubby  bushes  grow- 
ing up  here  and  there.  There  is  little  grass — so  little, 
indeed,  that  it  takes  from  three  to  five  acres  to  furnish  food 
for  one  sheep. 

How  wild  everything  is!  There  Is  not  a  fence  to  be 
seen.  There  are  no  barns,  no  roads,  no  farms,  not  any- 
thing living.     There  is  nothing  but  thorn  bushes  and  sand. 

But  stop.  What  are  those  yellow  animals  which  are 
galloping  away  to  the  right?  There  must  be  fifty  of 
them.     They  look  like  miniature  camels.     They  are  bigger 


I7D  ARGESTOSA. 

dmi  sheep  and  moie  beantifiil  than  Hamas  See  how 
queciiy  tfaey  nm.  Thar  gait  is  more  like  short  jumps 
dian  a  gallopu  What  are  tfaejr?  They  are  guanacos, 
ammals  of  the  same  faaaaSty  as  the  llamas,  only  wild  and 
not  quite  so  large.  They  are  often  hunted,  but  are  hard 
Id  shoot:  Om-  guide  tdk  us  that  tiiey  have  a  keen 
sense  ci  smefl  and  dbat  tli^  can  scent  a  hunter  a  full  mile 
awa^.  Their  flcdi,  he  says,  is  wery  good  eating.  It  tastes 
like  tenison,  and  when  roasted  over  the  coak  is 
The  fur  ts  ci  z.  tawny  jf^Qow  ocrfor  qx>tted 
d  three  or  four  sldns  sewed  toge^ber  make  a 

DCJIltliul  TOg» 

Now  we  have  left  the  goanacos  far  in  the  rear.  We 
are  m^ua  summndtd  by  nothing  but  thorn  boshes  and 
sand,  witli  spots  of  white  Iv  off  to  the  right  The  fdute 
spots  are  morii^.  They  are  Aeep,  and  that  Utdt  brown 
Hiiag  whitdk  rnns  here  and  there  throng^  them  is  their 
slKplierdonhondnck.  He  is  so  Car  off  diat  he  looks  like 
a  pygmy*  and  his  horK  seems  the  size  of  a  dog. 

But  what  are  those  gray  birds  swimming  through  the 
air  iiwer  die  sand?  They  ate  comog  toward  us.  That 
is  a  flock  of  ostridies  widi  <Hitstrttched  wiogs.  They 
hcid  ihA  heads  huriii  hoot,  arid  they  fairfy  slam  o¥er  the 
grotmd,  Ihar  loag  legs  kiddng^  np  a  dnst  as  they  go. 
Some  of  them  fun  very  Cast*  There  is  one  wliidi  has 
started  np  ont  of  the  budies  and  is  radng  die  train*  We 
are  going:  at  a  speed  of  forty  miles  an  hoar.  The  ostrich 
Iretjps  up  wvth  ns  lor  a  few  minntfs  and  dim  drops  hehmd, 

Theie  are  tnld  ostridies  throog|i  this  whole  r^:ioa,  and 
bad  we  time  we  mi0»t  capture  one.  The  proper  way 
10  catdi  ostriches  if  by  means  of  the  bolas.  This  is  a 
hug  stttug  of  toagli  leadier*  witb  an  iron  ball  as  big  as 
The  hnnter  fides  after  die  ostridies 


PATAGONIA. 


171 


on  horseback,  and  when  he  gets  near  them  he  throws  the 
bolas  so  that  the  string  wraps  itself  around  the  legs  of  the 
ostrich,  which  falls  to  the  ground. 

Ostriches  are  not  easy  to  catch.  WTien  hunted  they 
often  squat  down  and  hide  their  heads  in  the  sand. 
Many  people  who  have  not  seen  these  birds  in  their  homes 
think  this  foolish,  but  indeed  on  the  desert  there  could 
be  nothing  more  cunning.     The  feathers  of  the  ostrich 


"  Ostriches  are  not  easy  to  catc^t   ' 


are  of  about  the  same  color  as  the  bui^hes  of  the  pam- 
pas, and  when  one  of  them  squats  down  and  hides  his 
head  in  this  way  he  looks  for  all  the  world  like  a  bunch  of 
gray  bush,  and  the  hunter  may  ride  by  him  without  seeing 
anything  strange. 

The  ostriches  of  the  pampas  are  not  those  which  furnish 
the  feathers  our  mothers  use  in  their  Knmets.  They  are 
much  smaller,  and  their  feathers  art?  coarsen  These 
feathers  are  used  to  make  feather  dustei>i»  and  sometimes 


172 


ARGENTINA. 


for  feather  rugs.  The  rugs  are  made  of  the  breasts  of 
the  young  birds,  and  it  would  be  fine,  would  it  not,  if  we 
could  each  take  a  rug  of  ostrich  breasts  home? 

But  here  we  are  at  a  station.  What  a  lonesome  place 
for  a  town,  and  what  a  town !  The  half-dozen  houses  are 
gray  one-story  structures  built  of  sheet  iron.  The  station 
itself  is  of  iron,  and  that  water  tank  there  stands  upon  a 
framework  of  irono 

The  men  on  the  platform  are  fierce-looking  fellows  with 
bright-colored  ponchos   over  their  shoulders.     They  all 


But  here  we  are  at  a  station. 


carry  knives,  and  we  are  told  that  they  are  gauchos,  or 
cowboys,  who  herd  the  cattle  and  now  and  then  work  for 
the  sheep  farmers  at  shearing  time.  We  shall  see  more 
of  them  as  we  go  farther  north. 

Now  we  are  again  out  on  the  desert.     We  have  left  the 
cars  for  a  time  and  are  alone  on  plains  as  dry  as  the  coast 


PATAGONIA.  173 

of  Peru.     Our  cheeks  burn  and  our  lips  crack  under  the 

hot  sun  in  the  clear,  thirsty  air. 

What  is  that  cloud  coming  up?  That  surely  is  the 
sign  of  a  storm.  Hear  the  wind.  It  is  blowing  with  the 
force  of  a  blizzard  and  driving  the  cloud  toward  us.  Yes, 
this  is  a  storm,  but  not  a  rainstorm.  That  cloud  is  now 
between  us  and  the  sun.  The  sun  is  a  great  round  red 
ball  instead  of  the  fiery  white  furnace  it  was  a  moment 
ago.  The  cloud  is  not  vapor.  It  is  dust  and  sand.  We 
are  in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  sand  storms  of  the  pampas. 
Our  guide  drags  us  down  into  a  hole  he  finds  in  the  desert, 
and  draws  our  blankets  over  the  top. 

Soon  the  storm  is  upon  us.  The  sand  comes  down  like 
fine  hail.  It  sifts  through  the  blankets,  and  we  close 
our  eyes.  Now  it  is  over,  and  we  find  we  have  a  heavy 
load  to  raise  when  we  push  back  the  blankets.  How 
queer  we  all  look !  We  thought  we  were  white,  but  the 
sand  which  has  drifted  through  the  blankets  has  turned  us 
all  brown.  Our  nostrils,  ears,  and  mouths  are  filled  with 
dust,  and  our  clothes  are  covered  with  sand. 

Such  storms  are  common  on  the  pampas  of  Patagonia. 
The  dust  comes  in  great  clouds,  and  in  the  cities  it 
covers  the  houses.  It  is  as  fine  as  flour,  and  closed  doors 
and  windows  will  not  protect  a  house  from  it.  It  creeps 
through  every  crack  and  crevice,  and  covers  everything 
with  dust.  Such  a  storm  is  much  like  a  thunderstorm  at 
home.  The  dust  goes  with  the  wind,  and  it  is  often  fol- 
lowed by  a  drenching  rain.  This  wets  the  dust  in  the  air^ 
and  for  a  time  it  really  rains  mud.  If  the  rain  does  not 
last  long  the  houses  are  covered  with  mud,  and  it  is  only 
when  the  rain  is  heavy  that  they  are  scoured  clean. 
These  storms  sometimes  stop  the  railroad  trains,  so  that 
it  takes  dust  plows  and  men  to  clear  off  the  track. 


174  ARGENTINA. 


XXIII.     IN   ARGENTINA— LIFE   ON   THE 
PAMPAS. 

ALONG  ride  by  train  has  brought  us  back  to  Bahia 
Blanca.  Here  we  again  take  the  railroad,  and  are 
soon  traveling  through  some  of  the  great  pasture  lands  of 
the  world.  Some  parts  of  the  country  are  fenced  with 
barbed  wire,  but  the  most  of  it  is  just  as  nature  made  it 
— vast  pampas  which  extend  on  and  on  until  they  lose 
themselves  in  the  sky. 

Now  we  see  a  flock  of  two  thousand  sheep  browsing  on 
the  rich  grass.  Their  white  wool  shines  out  among  the 
dark-green  bushes.  We  hear  the  shrill  baa,  baa,  baa,  of 
the  lambs  and  the  coarser  voices  of  the  old  sheep  as  we 
go  by. 

Over  there  on  the  horizon  is  a  drove  of  horses,  mere 
brown  specks  against  the  blue  sky,  and  between  us  and 
them  a  long  train  of  huge  carts,  each  hauled  by  eight 
oxen,  is  dragging  its  weary  way  over  the  plain.  Those 
carts  are  filled  with  wool  and  hides,  and  the  men  who  are 
walking  beside  them  are  driving  the  loads  to  the  station. 

In  these  pastures  is  found  the  chief  wealth  of  Argen- 
tina. We  might  travel  thousands  of  miles  back  and 
forth  over  the  country  and,  with  the  exception  of  the 
rude  huts  of  the  herdsmen  and  now  and  then  the  larger 
buildings  of  some  rich  farmer,  we  should  see  little  else 
than  great  flocks  of  sheep  and  droves  of  cattle  and  horses. 

Argentina  has  tens  of  millions  of  sheep.  Sheep  raising 
Is  by  far  its  most  important  industry.  It  has  indeed  so 
many  sheep  that  if  they  were  all  divided  equally  each 
man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  country  would  have  at  least 


LIFE    ON   THE    PAMPAS. 


175 


"  —  vast  pampas  which  extend  on  and  on  until  they 
lose  themselves  in  the  sky." 

twenty- five.  The  sheep  are  kept  in  large  flocks  and  are 
watched  by  shepherds  on  horseback.  They  feed  out  of 
doors  the  year  round,  for  there  is  good  grass  here  in  all 
seasons. 

We  see  neither  barns  nor  haystacks  as  we  ride  over  the 
pampas.  The  inhabitants,  as  a  rule,  do  not  raise  hay  or 
corn  for  their  stock.  It  is  only  necessary  to  let  the  ani- 
mals graze,  to  protect  the  sheep  from  the  vultures,  and  to 
give  them  a  bit  of  salt  now  and  then. 

The  sheep  are  shorn  once  every  year.  The  wool  is  cut 
off  and  tied  up  in  bales  much  as  we  bale  cotton.  It  usu- 
ally goes  first  to  Buenos  Aires,  where  it  is  transferred  to 
the  steamers  and  sent  across  the  Atlantic  to  Europe. 

Very  few  sheep  are  sold  here  for  mutton.  They  are  so 
plentiful  that  there  is  no  great  demand  for  their  meat,  and 
in  the  cities  you  can  buy  chops  for  four  cents  a  pound. 
Within  a  few  years,  however,  factories  have  been  built  to 
freeze  mutton  for  shipment  to  Europe,  where  it  will  sell 
for  from  three  to  five  times  as  much.     In  these  factories 


1 76  ARGENTINA. 

the  sheep  are  killed  and  dressed  just  as  they  are  for  our 
markets.  They  are  then  hung  up  in  rooms  which  by  cer- 
tain chemical  processes  are  made  so  cold  that  the  meat 
soon  freezes  stiff.  In  this  state  it  will  keep  fresh.  It  is 
now  wrapped  up  in  white  cloths  and  carried  to  the  refrig- 
erators of  the  steamers  which  take  it  to  Europe.  As  soon 
as  it  lands  there  it  is  thawed  out  and  placed  on  the 
butchers'  counters  for  sale.  It  then  looks  just  like  freshly 
killed  mutton,  and  indeed  it  is  said  that  when  cooked  it 
tastes  like  fresh  mutton. 

But  let  us  leave  the  train  and  ride  on  horseback  over 
the  pampas.  Here  we  are  at  the  home  of  a  shepherd. 
What  a  rude  hut  it  is!  Its  walls  are  poles  covered  with 
mud,  and  its  roof  is  straw  thatch.  We  have  to  stoop  as 
we  enter  the  door,  and  we  look  about  in  vain  for  chairs  for 
our  party.  The  hut  is  scantily  furnished.  Much  of  the 
cooking  is  done  on  the  ground  outside.  The  oven  is  that 
round  mound  of  mud  which  looks  like  a  beehive. 

The  shepherd  is  an  Italian.  He  lives  with  his  little 
family  all  alone  here,  away  out  on  the  plain.  He  spends 
his  day  riding  about  among  the  sheep,  and  at  night  drives 
them  into  that  corral  near  the  hut.  He  works  for  a  rich 
farmer  who  owns  thousands  of  acres  of  land  and  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  sheep. 

The  shepherd  tells  us  that  the  estate,  or  estancia,  is  so 
large  that  we  might  ride  all  day  in  one  direction  and  not 
come  to  its  end.  We  learn  later  on  that  much  of  the 
land  of  Argentina  is  in  large  tracts.  Land  is  not  sold 
by  the  acre,  but  by  the  square  league,  which  contains 
more  than  six  thousand  acres. 

But  suppose  we  go  farther  on  over  the  pampas.  We 
gallop  for  miles,  now  riding  where  the  turf  is  soft,  fresh,  and 
green,  and  now  where  the  grass  is  gray,  dead,  and  coarse. 


LIFE    ON    THE    PAMPAS. 


177 


This  is  the  natural  grass  of  the  pampas.  The  green 
turf  has  been  pastured  year  after  year.  When  so  used 
the  coarse  grass  disappears  after  a  time,  and  a  more  tender 
and  a  richer  grass  springs  up. 

But  see  that  smoke  away  off  to  the  right.  The  flames 
are  rolling  up  from  the  earth,  and  the  dense  white  smoke 
is  blowing  toward  us.  Is  that  a  prairie  fire  down  here 
on  the  pampas  ?     Don't  be  alarmed.     There  is  no  danger. 


Now  they  have  caught  one  with  a  lasso.' 


The  men  who  have  lighted  the  fire  have  burned  a  strip 
around  their  fields  so  that  it  will  not  go  beyond  them. 
They  are  burning  off  the  coarse  grass  and  thorn  bushes. 
After  such  a  burning  a  more  tender  vegetation  springs  up. 
The  owners  say  it  makes  the  land  better  to  burn  off  the 
grass  once  every  few  years. 

But  we  have  now  left  the  sheep  farm  and  are  passing 


178 


ARGENTINA. 


through  a  large  estate  devoted  to  stock  raising.  We 
might  ride  eighty  miles  in  a  straight  line  and  not  get 
across  it.  It  has  great  droves  of  cattle,  and  we  pass  herds 
of  thousands  of  horses.  There  is  one  now  where  they  are 
branding  the  animals.  They  have  driven  the  horses  into 
an  inclosure  fenced  round  by  stakes.  Now  they  have 
caught  one  with  a  lasso.  See,  they  are  driving  him  about 
in  a  circle.  Now  he  is  tired,  and  they  pull  him  down  to 
the  ground.  One  man  sits  on  his  head,  and  another  holds 
him  tight  by  a  rope  fastened  about  his  front  leg,  while  a 
third  seizes  a  red-hot  iron  from  a  fire  near  by  and  burns 
a  mark  on  his  side.  That  brand  is  the  brand  of  the  owner, 
and  by  it  he  can  claim  the  horse  if  it  gets  lost. 


Drying  Horse  Hides. 

In  that  inclosure  farther  over,  they  are  killing  horses  and 
skinning  them.  There  are  hundreds  of  fresh  horse  hides 
tied  to  stakes  out  there  in  the  sun.  They  are  stretched 
out  to  dry.     In   Argentina  horses  are  raised  largely  for 


LIFE    ON   THE    PAMPAS. 


179 


their  hides.     The  animals  are  so  cheap  that  you  can  buy 
one  for  a  very  few  dollars. 

It  is  not  uncommon  here  for  a  man  to  give  a  horse  to 
his  friend.  Even  the  poor  natives  own  one  or  more 
horses.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  a  beggar  sometimes  follows 
his  trade  going 
from  one  farm 
to  another  rid- 
ing upon  his 
own  horse,  so 
that  there  real- 
ly is  a  country 
where  beggars 
go  on  horse- 
back. 

But  look  at 
those  strange 
men  who  are 
branding  the 
horses.  They 
are  dark-faced, 
and  they  seem  to  be  very  fierce.  What  a  queer  dress  they 
have!  They  do  not  wear  trousers,  but  have  blankets 
wrapped  around  their  waists,  the  ends  being  tucked 
through  between  the  legs  and  fastened  to  their  belts. 
See,  there  is  one  standing  at  the  side  looking  on.  He 
has  white  drawers  which  extend  down  below  his  blanket 
and  are  edged  with  lace.  Many  of  the  others  wear  slouch 
hats.  Each  carries  a  whip,  and  all  have  knives  in  their  belts. 

Those  are  the  gauchos,  or,  as  we  might  call  them,  the 
cowboys  of  the  pampas.  They  are  the  descendants  of 
the  Spaniards  and  Indians.  They  act  as  the  herdsmen 
of  the  pampas.     They  do  not  like  steady  work,  except 


A  Gaucho. 


i8o 


ARGENTINA. 


such  as  can  be  done  upon  horseback,  and  they  are  always 
ready  to  ride  over  the  plains  to  watch  or  drive  cattle. 

They  are  very  good  men  when  they  are  sober,  but  when 
drunk  are  by  no  means  backward  in  using  their  knives. 
They  are  men  of  no  education,  and  are  not  very  civiHzed. 


c^-  ^-X    i*.---~ 

m 

-5  -■=^=:^ 

jM 

H 

dfe^,-           ?' 

■j 

|; 

S 

1     s^ 

Mp    -  - 

mi  '™ 

i 

e 

Gaucho  Hut. 


We  enter  one  of  their  houses  as  we  pass  by  on  our  ride 
over  the  pampas.  We  are  in  a  mud  hut  fifteen  feet 
square  and  so  low  that  we  have  to  stoop  down  to  come 
through  the  door.  The  floor  is  of  earth.  Those  dry 
bullock  skulls  scattered  about  are  the  seats,  and  a  rude 
table,  a  box,  and  a  chair  comprise  the  rest  of  the  furniture- 

The  cooking  is  done  upon  a  fire  outside  the  door.  The 
food  is  usually  beef,  and  it  is  roasted  upon  a  spit  over  the 
coals.  As  the  meat  cooks,  the  gaucho's  wife  bastes  it  with 
the  juice,  which  she  catches  in  a  pan  as  it  falls. 

After  the  meat  is  done  it  is  cut  off  in  large  slices,  being 


LIFE   ON   THE    PAMPAS. 


I8l 


usually  eaten  without  plates  or  forks.  Each  one  at  the 
meal  takes  a  slice  in  his  hand.  He  puts  one  end  of  it 
between  his  teeth,  and  pulling  out  the  slice  as  far  as  he 
can,  he  draws  his  knife  across  it  within  a  sixteenth  of  an 
inch  of  his  nose.  When  his  first  bite  is  chewed  up  he 
takes  another  in  the  same  way,  so  that  he  really  has  no 
need  of  a  fork. 

A  favorite  dish  is  carne  concuero  (carina  con-kwa^ro), 
or  meat  cooked  in  the  skin.  The  meat  is  cut  from  the 
flesh  of  the  animal,  with  the  skin  upon  it.  It  is  wrapped 
up  tightly,  so  that  the  skin  keeps  in  the  juices  when  it  is 
roasted  over  the  coals.      We  try  it  ourselves  and  like  it. 


Cowboys  at  Breakfast. 


1 82  ARGENTINA. 


XXIV.     IN   THE    GREAT    FRUIT    AND    BREAD 
LANDS    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 

WE  shall  travel  to-day  through  some  of  the  chief  food 
lands  of  the  world.  Argentina  has  many  different 
industries.  It  grows  almost  all  kinds  of  crops,  and  we  can 
describe  only  a  few  of  them.  We  pass  cattle  and  horses 
on  our  way  back  to  the  railroad,  and  see  more  sheep  as 
we  go  on  to  the  capital,  Buenos  Aires. 

Here  we  change  cars  for  the  north,  and  ride  for  two 
days  through  the  rich  lands  along  the  Parana  river.  We 
travel  a  long  time  by  train  through  wheatfields  and  pas- 
tures. Every  day  the  weather  grows  warmer,  and  at  last 
we  come  into  a  land  where  there  are  oranges  and  lemons, 
and  other  tropical  fruits.  We  are  now  in  the  province  of 
Tucuman,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  republic. 

How  diflferent  it  is  from  the  desert  where  we  traveled 
after  we  left  Punta  Arenas!  All  nature  is  green,  for  the 
soil  is  rich  and  there  is  plenty  of  rain.  We  pass  groves 
of  tall  palm  trees,  their  green  fanlike  leaves  rustling  in  the 
wind.  We  visit  sugar  plantations  where  gangs  of  men 
and  women  are  cutting  the  cane.  They  chop  it  off  close 
to  the  ground,  and  load  it  on  ox  carts  to  be  hauled  to  the 
factory.  We  follow  a  cart  and  watch  the  cane  stalks  as 
they  are  thrown  between  steel  rollers  which  squeeze  out 
the  juice,  and  farther  on  we  see  the  juice  boiled  down  into 
sugar. 

We  are  now  surrounded  by  mountains.  There  are 
streams  everywhere.  Some  are  almost  dry  now,  for  it  is 
winter.  In  summer  the  rain  comes  down  in  great  sheets 
and  turns  the  streams  to  torrents.     We  can  see  how  they 


GREAT  FRUIT  AND  BREAD  LANDS. 


183 


"  Gangs  of  men  and  women  are  cutting  the  cane.' 


have  cut  deep  gorges  here  and  there  through  the  hills. 
They  often  flood  large  tracts  of  land. 

We  see  more  hills  as  we  leave  Tucuman,  going  west 
ward  and  southward  through  Argentina.     The  country  is 
rolling.      We  are  in  the  foothills  of  the  Andes.     There  are 
forests  of  fine  woods,  and  farther  south  we  enter  a  land  of 
great  vineyards. 

See  how  the  vines  covdr  the  hills.  They  extend  on 
and  on  for  miles.  The  western  part  of  Argentina  is  a 
rich  wine  raising  country.  Trainloads  of  grapes  are 
shipped  from  here  to  Buenos  Aires  and  to  other  parts  of 
the  repubHc.  When  the  grapes  are  ripe,  men,  women, 
and  children  walk  through  the  vineyards,  gathering  them 
in  baskets  and  carrying  them  to  the  wine  presses. 


CARP.  s.  AM.— 12 


84 


ARGENTINA. 


Look  up  at  the  mountains  to  the  west.  Those  are  the 
snowcapped  Andes.  This  town  we  are  coming  into  now 
is  the  Httle  city  of  Mendoza,  and  that  snowy  peak  just 
beyond  is  Aconcagua,  which  we  saw  in  Chile.  Mendoza 
is  a  station  on  th^  Transandine  Railroad,  and  that  iron 


"We  enter  a  land  of  great  vineyards." 


track  which  climbs  up  the  mountains  is  the  eastern  part  of 
the  line  which  is  to  stretch  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  over 
the  western  part  of  which  we  had  such  a  pleasant  journey 
in  Chile  some  weeks  ago. 

There  is  a  good  railroad  from  here  to  Buenos  Aires,  and 
we  can,  in  fact,  travel  by  railroad  to  almost  any  part  of 
the  republic.  We  decide  to  go  back  to  the  wheat  lands 
by  the  way  of  Cor^dova,  and  stop  there  for  a  few  hours 
on  the  way. 


GREAT  FRUIT  AND  BREAD  LANDS.       1 8$ 

Have  you  ever  heard  of  Cordova?  It  is  a  town  well 
known  in  the  history  of  South  America.  It  was  for  two 
hundred  years  one  of  the  chief  centers  of  education  and 
culture  on  this  continent,  and  it  had  a  university  seven 
years  before  our  Pilgrim  fathers  landed  on  Plymouth 
Rock.  Cordova  has  a  large  university  now.  It  is  also  a 
business  center,  so  that  a  stay  in  it  will  give  us  some  idea 
of  a  small  city  in  Argentina. 

We  take  a  carriage  at  the  station  and  drive  to  the 
plaza.  Cordova  is  much  like  the  cities  of  Chile  in  that 
it  is  laid  out  in  square  blocks,  with  its  streets  crossing  one 
another  at  right  angles.  The  houses  are  almost  all  of  one 
story.  They  are  painted  in  the  brightest  of  colors,  and 
nearly  all  have  iron  bars  over  their  windows,  making  us 
think  of  a  jail. 

Back  of  these  bars  we  see  women  and  girls  standing  or 
sitting.  It  seems  to  us  as  though  the  girls  were  caged  in. 
This  is  so  to  a  certain  extent  in  all  towns  in  Argentina. 
Young  women  and  girls  seldom  go  alone  on  the  street. 
They  are  not  allowed  to  associate  with  young  men  or 
boys  until  they  are  married,  and  a  young  man  who  should 
stop  at  a  window  and  chat  would  be  told  he  had  better 
move  on. 

We  drive  on  through  the  wide  Avenida  General  Paz, 
admiring  the  statues  at  its  ends,  and  then  out  among  the 
shabby  huts  of  the  suburbs,  where  the  poor  people  live. 

Here  all  is  dirty  and  squalid,  but  the  sky  is  bright  blue, 
and  the  gorgeous  sunlight  has  given  Cordova  an  atmo- 
sphere Hke  that  of  the  Orient.  Its  outskirts  remind  trav- 
elers of  Cairo,  and  the  Moorish  architecture  of  the  churches 
and  the  better  class  houses  is  like  that  of  southern  Spain. 

Now  we  are  again  in  the  city.  What  queer  names  the 
streets  have !      Some  are  taken  from  the  noted  days  of  the 


1 86 


ARGENTINA. 


history  of  Argentina.  Here  is  one  called  Twenty-fifth  of 
May  Street.  We  turn  the  corner  and  go  into  the  street 
of  the  Eighteenth  of  July,  and  wonder  if  we  shall  not  find 
farther  on  a  street  named  **  Week  after  Next." 

We  stop  at  the  market.  It  is  in  a  hollow  square  sur- 
rounded by  rose-colored  one-story  buildings  containing  the 
meat  stalls.     The  red  beef  and  mutton  hang  down  from 


"  We  stop  at  the  market. 


hooks  under  dirty  white  awnings.  There  are  no  scales. 
Those  women  with  the  black  shawls  around  their  heads, 
who  are  buying,  pay  for  the  meat  by  the  chunk. 

The  market  court  is  filled  with  carts  which  have  come 
in  from  the  farms.  On  the  ground  sit  dark-faced  women 
with  vegetables  about  them,  which  they  sell  by  the  pile. 


GREAT  FRUIT  AND  BREAD  LANDS. 


187 


What  is  that  squeaHng  outside  the  market?  It  sounds 
Hke  a  pig  in  the  hands  of  a  butcher.  They  surely  cannot 
kill  hogs  here  in  the  midst  of  the  city.  It  is  only  the 
creaking  of  a  farm  cart  which  is  bringing  wheat  to  the 
market.  There  it  comes  through  the  door.  It  has  wheels 
eight  feet  in  height,  with  hubs  as  big  around  as  your  waist, 
and  an  axle  a's  thick  as  a  telegraph  pole. 


"  It  has  wheels  eight  feet  in  height." 


The  cart  has  an  arched  cover  of  reeds  over  its  bed.  The 
skins  which  have  been  sewed  to  the  top  are  put  there  to 
keep  the  rain  off  the  wheat.  Such  farm  carts  take  the 
place  of  farm  wagons  throughout  Argentina.  They  look 
very  rude,  but  each  cart  will  hold  several  tons — so  much, 
indeed,  that  teams  of  twelve  oxen  are  often  hitched  to  one 
cart.  The  owner  of  the  cart  is  that  dark-faced  man  in  the 
poncho,  and  his  wife  is  the  woman  in  the  calico  dress  who 
is  now  climbing  out. 

-  But  let  us  leave  Cordova  and  ride  on  the  railroad  into 
the  wheat  lands.     We  reach  them  within  a  few  hours 


1 88  ARGENTINA. 

after  leaving  the  city.  The  best  wheat  region  of  Argen- 
tina lies  in  the  Parana  basin,  within  a  hundred  miles  of 
both  banks  of  the  river,  for  the  soil  which  it  has  brought 
down  from  the  uplands  is  exceedingly  rich.  The  wheat 
lands  are  all  together  so  large  that  if  they  could  be  put  into 
one  block  they  would  make  a  wheatfield  five  times  the 
size  of  New  York,  or  six  times  that  of  Ohio.  This  tract 
in  good  seasons  produces  far  more  wheat  than  the  people 
can  use,  and  the  wheat  exports  are  sometimes  so  large 
that  they  compete  with  our  wheat  in  the  markets  of 
Europe,  and  as  a  result  we  receive  much  lower  prices. 

Our  farmers,  indeed,  might  have  to  stop  exporting 
wheat  did  not  Argentina  have  many  droughts,  when  the 
wheat  will  not  grow,  and  also  in  good  seasons  terrible  in- 
vasions of  locusts  which  sometimes  eat  up  the  crops. 


Locusts  and  Their  Eggs. 

The  locusts  come  down  in  swarms  of  millions  from  the 
warm  lands  of  southern  Brazil.  There  are  so  many  of 
them  at  times  that  they  shut  out  the  sunlight  like  a  storm 
cloud.  They  alight  on  everything  green  and  eat  up  all  as 
they  go.  They  eat  the  leaves  of  the  trees  and  also  the 
fruit.  They  are  especially  fond  of  green  wheat.  .A 
swarm  of  them  will  chew  up  a  wheatfield  in  a  night,  and 


GREAT  FRUIT  AND  BREAD  LANDS.       1 89 

when  they  come  in  vast  numbers,  as  they  sometimes  do 
year  after  year,  the  crops  of  the  farmers  are  ruined.  They 
lay  their  eggs  in  the  holes  in  the  ground,  and  these  hatch 
out  thousands  more.  The  people  never  know  when  they 
are  coming,  and  plant  on  and  on,  hoping  they  may  be 
able  to  harvest  their  crops. 

We  pity  the  farmers  as  we  watch  them  at  work.  It  is 
spring,  and  they  are  plowing  the  fields.  We  ride  for  hours 
through  vast  tracts  of  brown  soil  upon  which  dark-faced 
men  are  guiding  their  oxen  this  way  and  that  through  the 
furrows.  Here  one  is  sowing  the  seed,  scattering  it  by 
hand  over  the  land,  and  in  the  next  field  oxen  are  drag- 
ging harrows  and  brush  over  the  clods  to  cover  the  grain. 

Now  we  are  passing  farms  where  the  wheat  has  been 
sown  for  some  time.  As  far  as  we  can  see  there  is  nothing 
but  the  emerald  green  of  the  fresh  sprouting  grain.  A 
little  later  on,  as  harvest  time  comes,  this  vast  sea  of 
emerald  will  change  to  a  billowy  ocean  of  gold.  There 
will  be  wheat  on  all  sides,  and  the  yellow  waves  will  roll  on 
and  on  until  at  last  they  lose  themselves  in  the  blue  sky. 

Then  there  will  be  reapers  and  mowers  moving  over  the 
fields,  some  drawn  by  horses,  some  by  oxen,  cutting  the 
grain.  There  will  be  steam  thrashers  puffing  away  as  they 
shell  the  wheat  out,  and  there  will  be  great  ox  carts,  like 
those  we  saw  in  the  markets  of  Cordova,  with  teams  of 
eight  and  twelve  oxen  hauling  the  great  loads  of  bags  to 
the  train. 

At  that  time,  were  we  here,  we  might  find  it  very  slow 
traveling.  There  is  so  much  wheat  that  all  the  freight 
cars  of  the  country  are  needed  to  carry  it  to  Rosario,  the 
chief  port  of  the  Parana,  and  to  Buenos  Aires  for  ship- 
ment to  Europe.  The  tracks  are  so  crowded  with  wheat 
cars  that  the  passenger  trains  are  sometimes  kept  back  to 


I90 


ARGENTINA. 


let  them  go  by.  We  should  then  find  stacks  of  bags 
awaiting  shipment  at  the  stations,  many  of  the  stacks  being 
covered  with  canvas  to  protect  the  wheat  from  the  rain. 
Why  do  not  the  farmers  store  the  wheat  in  barns?  We 
can  easily  see  as  we  ride  on  and  on  through  the  fields. 
There  are  no  barns  anywhere!  No  feed  is  stored,  and 
the  stock  is  seldom  kept  under  cover.  Even  the  work- 
ing horses  and  oxen  are  turned  out  to  graze.      There  are 


"There  will  be  steam  thrashers  puffing  away." 

no  farm  buildings  except  the  little  mud  huts  thatched 
with  straw  in  which  the  small  farmers  live.  The  huts  are 
so  small  that  there  is  no  place  in  them  for  storing  wheat. 
The  result  is  that  the  grain  is  sold  as  soon  as  it  is 
thrashed,  and  the  farmer  must  take  what  he  can  get. 

Most  of  the  grain  is  shipped  to  Europe  soon  after  har- 
vest. This  is  along  in  January  and  February,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  our  winter.     There  is  so  much  wheat,  however,  that 


GREAT    FRUIT  AND    BREAD    LANDS. 


191 


some  is  exported  all  the  year  round.     We  can  see  how  it 
is  handled  by  watching  the  loading  of  steamers  at  Rosario. 

Rosario  is  one  of  the  chief  wheat  ports  of  Argentina. 
It  is  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Parana  river, 
about  three  hundred  miles  by  water  from  Buenos  Aires. 
It  is  of  about  the  size  of  Indianapolis.  It  is  built  right 
on  the  banks  of 
the  river,  which  is 
here  so  deep  that 
great  ocean  steam- 
ers can  sail  through 
the  Rio  de  la  Plata 
and  the  Parana  up 
to  it. 

Rosario  is  built 
upon  a  bluff  so  high 
that  it  is  above  the 
masts  of  the  steam- 
ers on  the  water  be- 
low. All  along,  a 
little  back  of  the 
edge  of  the  blufT, 
warehouses  of  gray 
galvanized  iron  have 
been  constructed. 
In  these  the  wheat 
is  stored  as  it  is 
brought  from  the 
fields. 


Loading  a  Vessel,  Rosario. 


Now,  in  front  of  each  warehouse,  there  is  a  long  chute, 
or  trough,  made  of  wood  or  iron,  extending  down  to  the 
water.  These  troughs  are  in  sections,  so  that  they  can 
be  shortened  or  lengthened  at  will,  and  so  that  when  con- 


192  ARGENTINA. 

nected  they  make  a  continuous  chute  running  from  the 
bluff  right  into  the  hold  of  the  steamer. 

The  bags  of  wheat  are  carried  by  men  from  the  ware- 
houses and  thrown  into  the  chute.  Gravity  makes  them 
descend,  and  they  bounce  up  and  down  as  they  fly  into 
the  steamer,  making  us  think  of  an  army  of  gigantic  yellow 
mice  galloping  down  into  the  hold.  At  some  places  the 
railroad  tracks  run  close  to  the  bluff,  so  that  the  wheat 
bags  can  be  taken  from  the  cars  direct  to  the  chutes. 


^^»4c 


XXV.     IN    BUENOS    AIRES. 

IT  is  a  night's  ride  by  train  from  Rosario  to  Buenos  Aires. 
We  go  to  bed  in  the  sleeper  as  the  cars  move  out  of 
the  station,  and  when  we  awake  we  are  in  the  capital  of 
Argentina.  We  step  out  into  a  railroad  station,  as  large 
almost  as  our  best  stations  at  home,  and  walk  under  a 
long  glass-covered  roof  to  the  front  door.  What  a  lot 
of  carriages  there  are,  and  how  their  drivers  yell  at  us  in 
Spanish  as  we  come  down  the  steps!  We  choose  one, 
and  are  soon  dashing  through  one  long  street  after 
another,  turning  corner  after  corner,  until  we  reach  our 
hotel. 

As  we  go  we  see  that  Buenos  Aires  is  a  large  city. 
Its  size  grows  upon  us  as  we  ride  through  it  day  after 
day.  It  is  indeed  the  largest  city  on  the  South  Ameri- 
can continent.  It  has  already  nearly  a  million  inhabi- 
tants, and  it  increases  in  population,  it  is  said,  about  one 
hundred  thousand  a  year.  It  grows  fast  because  it  is 
the  chief  city  of  Argentina.  It  is  situated  on  the  Rio  de 
la  Plata,  at  just  the  point  where  steamers  from  Europe  can 


BUENOS    AIRES. 


193 


most  easily  land  their  goods,  and  from  where  the  wool, 
hides,  meat,  and  other  things  raised  here  can  be  easily 
loaded  to  go  across  the  ocean. 

Buenos  Aires  is  the  place  where  the  most  important 
business  of  Argentina  is  done.  It  is  the  capital  and  has 
the  principal  officials.      It  has  nearly  all  the  factories  that 


Buenos  Aires. 

supply  Argentina  with  goods.  It  ships  most  of  the  wool 
and  other  exports.  Indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  largest  produce 
markets  in  the  world. 

In  Buenos  Aires  the  richest  of  the  people  of  Argentina 
live,  only  now  and  then  going  out  to  their  vast  estates  in 
the  country.  Here  also  are  the  homes  and  business 
houses  of  the  great  merchants.  Here  are  the  chief  col- 
leges^ the   great   daily  newspapers,   the   finest  churches, 


194 


ARGENTINA. 


and,  in  fact,  all  things  which  are  of  supreme  importance 
in  Argentina. 

But  what  kind  of  people  live  in  this  city?  When  we 
hear  them  talk  we  think  them  all  Spanish.  There  are 
Spanish  signs  over  the  stores,  and  many  of  the  people 
speak  nothing  else.  Buenos  Aires  is  by  far  the  largest 
Spanish-speaking  city  of  the  world,  being  about  half  again 
as  large  as  Madrid,  the  largest  city  of  Spain.  Still,  the 
most  of  its  people  are  foreigners.  Not  more  than  one 
fifth  of  them  were  born  in  the  country.  There  are  more 
Italians  in  Buenos  Aires  than  natives  of  Argentina,  and 
there  are  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  who  have  come 
here  from  Spain. 

See  that  group  of  dark-faced  men  with  ruddy  complex- 
ions on  the  opposite  corner.  They  wear  short  jackets  and 
full  skirts,  and  their  trousers  are  held  up  by  sashes  tied 


Basques. 


BUENOS   AIRES. 


195 


about  their  waists.  They  have  little  round  caps  on  their 
heads,  and  many  of  them  carry  long  ropes.  You  might 
think  they  were  hangmen,  but  even  Buenos  Aires  could 
not  give  work  for  so  many  executioners.  Those  men  are 
Basques.     They  come  from  northern  Spain,  and  are  here 


Street  Scene. 

because  they  can  find  plenty  of  work  and  good  wages. 
They  are  porters,  and  their  ropes  are  to  tie  on  the  boxes 
or  bags  which  they  carry  on  their  backs  through  the 
streets. 

The  masons  who  are  building  that  house  over  the  way 
are  Italians.  The  Italians  are  the  mechanics  of  the  city, 
and  we  shall  also  find  them  peddling  onions,  fish,  and  all 
kinds  of  goods  from  house  to  house.  They  are  the  news- 
boys of  Buenos  Aires,  and  also  the  bootblacks.  They 
own  the  grocery  stores,  and  there  are  some  rich  Italian 
bankers  and  traders.     There  are  many  large  banks  man- 


196  ARGENTINA. 

aged  by  the  English,  and  some  of  the  biggest  stores  are 
owned  by  the  Germans. 

But  let  us  go  farther  on  into  the  business  section. 
Here  we  are  in  the  Plaza  de  Mayo.  What  a  beautiful 
park,  and  how  large  are  the  houses  about  it !  That  great 
building  on  one  side  of  the  square  is  the  cathedral.  There 
^is  a  crowd  of  women  in  black  gowns,  with  black  shawls 
over  their  heads,  going  to  mass.  The  building  covers 
more  than  an  acre,  and  it  will  hold,  it  is  said,  nine  thousand 
people.  It  is  the  chief  church  of  the  city ;  for  Argentina 
is  a  Catholic  country,  and  Buenos  Aires  is  said  to  be  the 
largest  Catholic  city  of  the  world.  Catholicism  is  the  re- 
ligion of  the  state,  and  it  is  at  the  cathedral  that  the  presi- 
dent attends  mass. 

That  building  just  above  the  cathedral  contains  the 
courts  of  the  city,  and  on  the  opposite  side  is  the  govern- 
ment house,  where  the  president  of  Argentina  has  his  offices, 
and  where  the  most  of  the  government  business  is  done. 
Argentina  ha^  a  president  and  Congress  just  as  we  have, 
and  its  people  are  supposed  to  choose  their  own  officers, 
although  elections  are  often  unfair. 

But  let  us  go  out  to  Barraccas.  **  Barraccas  "  means  ware- 
houses, and  this  is  the  name  of  that  part  of  the  city  where 
the  most  of  the  wool,  wheat,  and  meat  are  prepared  for 
shipment  to  Europe.  We  stand  on  the  corner  and  wait 
for  the  car.  We  hear  a  horn  blown  in  the  distance.  The 
sound  of  it  grows  louder  and  louder,  and  we  soon  see  that 
one  end  of  the  horn  is  in  the  mouth  of  the  car  driver,  and 
that  he  gives  a  blast  as  a  warning  at  every  street  corner. 

As  the  car  stops  we  climb  in.  We  are  carried  through 
narrow  streets  for  more  than  two  miles,  when  we  reach  an 
enormous  brick  building  on  the  banks  of  the  Riachuelo 
river,  which  here  flows  into  the  Rio  de  la  Plata.     The 


BUENOS   AIRES. 


197 


Some  are  filled  with  woo!." 


building  is  that  of  the  Mercado  Central  des  Frutos,  the 
largest  wholesale  produce  market,  under  one  roof,  in  the 
world.  It  covers  many  acres,  and  in  it  millions  of  pounds 
of  wool  are  handled  each  year.  It  is  so  built  that  the  cars 
can  come  into  the  market,  and  the  wool  and  wheat  can  be 
unloaded  right  upon  the  floors.  Shiploads  of  wool  sail  up 
to  its  doors,  and  carts  and  wagons  loaded  with  wool  and 
grain  are  driven  in  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  We 
spend  a  long  time  going  through  one  immense  room  after 
another.  Some  are  filled  with  wool,  and  in  others  there 
are  so  many  bags  of  wheat  and  corn  that  we  have  not  time 
to  count  them. 

On  our  way  back  we  call  at  one  of  the  big  city  mar- 
kets. Here  we  see  that  the  food  which  these  people  eat 
is  quite  as  good  as  our  own.  They  have  all  sorts  of 
meats,  fish,  and  vegetables.  There  are  huge  pears  from 
near  Buenos  Aires,  and  oranges  and  pineapples   which 


1 98 


ARGENTINA. 


have  come  down  on  the  steamer  from  Paraguay.  There 
are  grapes  from  the  foothills  of  the  Andes,  and  peaches 
by  the  bushel  from  the  islands  of  the  Parana  river. 
Peach   trees  grow  so   rapidly  in  this  part   of  the  world 

that  they  are  often  raised 
for  fuel,  and  there  are  so 
many  peaches  in  some 
places  that  they  are 
thrown  to  the  pigs. 

We  stop  at  the  stalls 
where  chickens  are  sold. 
The  feathers  have  been 
pulled  from  the  chickens, 
except  the  tail  feathers. 
These  show  what  the 
color  of  each  chicken  was 
before  it  was  plucked.  Why 
these  feathers  are  left  I 
do  not  know.  A  similar 
custom  prevails  in  South 
China,  where  dog  meat  is  sold  to  be  cooked.  A  bit  of  the 
dog's  hair  is  always  left  on  the  tail ;  but  this  is  because  the 
Chinese  think  the  flesh  of  black  dogs  the  best  and  most 
fitted  to  put  a  brave  spirit  into  the  eater. 

We  meet  many  chicken  peddlers  on  leaving  the  market. 
They  are  starting  out  with  live  chickens,  which  they  will 
sell  from  house  to  house  through  the  city.  The  chickens 
are  in  wicker  crates  hung  over  the  back  of  a  horse,  and  we 
see  that  all  peddling  is  done  by  men  on  horseback  or  on 
foot. 

Now  and  then  we  pass  a  peddler  who  is  driving  a  flock 
of  turkeys  before  him.  The  fowls  are  for  sale.  If  you 
pick  out  one  the  peddler  will  catch  it  for  you. 


Chicken  Peddler. 


BUENOS   AIRES. 


199 


Armadillo 


Have  you  ever  eaten  young  armadillo  ?  Its  meat  tastes 
like  spring  chicken,  and  the  people  of  Argentina  are  so 
(ond  of  it  that  they  eat  a  thousand  armadillos  a  month. 
The  armadillo  is  a  four-legged  animal,  with  a  shell  Hke  a 
turtle  and  a  lit- 
tle head  like  a 
pig.  It  bur- 
rows in  the 
earth,  and  sel- 
dom goes  out 
of  its  hole  ex- 
cept at  night. 
It  eats  fruit  and 
roots,  and  some- 
times small  in- 
sects. Its  flesh  is  white  and  quite  tender,  and  when  we 
taste  it  at  one  of  the  restaurants  we  find  it  delicious. 

But  it  is  now  five  o'clock,  and  we  must  go  for  a  walk  on 
the  Calle  Florida.  This  is  the  fashionable  shopping  street 
of  the  city.  It  is  lined  with  the  stores  of  jewelers,  con- 
fectioners, milliners,  and  tailors,  and  at  this  time  of  day 
the  fashionable  people  come  here  to  see  and  be  seen. 

The  street  is  just  wide  enough  for  a  line  of  carriages 
to  move  up  one  side  of  it  while  another  line  goes  down 
the  other.  We  find  the  Florida  filled  with  carriages. 
There  are  hundreds  of  horses  prancing  along.  There  are 
fine  carriages  containing  well-dressed  women  and  men. 
The  carriages  drive  slowly  up  and  back,  while  the  people 
within  sit  and  stare  at  their  neighbors. 

Upon  the  sidewalks  are  knots  of  young  men  who  have 
come  here  for  their  afternoon  outing,  to  chat  with  one 
another  and  look  at  the  crowd. 

We  see  more  fine  turnouts  on  Thursday  afternoon,  when 
CARP.  s.  AM. — 13 


200 


ARGENTINA. 


we  take  a  drive  out  by  the  magnificent  residences  along 
the  Avenue  Alvear  to  Palermo  Park. 

This  park  is  perhaps  the  finest  in  all  South  America. 
It  covers  many  acres,  and  in  it  there  are  long  avenues 
of  magnificent  palms,  forest  trees  of  all  kinds,  running 


Palermo  Park. 


streams,  and  winding  lakes.  During  the  afternoons  of 
Sunday  and  Thursday  it  is  filled  with  people.  There  are 
hundreds  of  carriages  and  thousands  of  foot  passengers 
riding  and  walking  under  the  palms.  There  are  gayly 
dressed  children  playing  upon  the  grass,  and  boys  rowing 
about  in  boats  upon  the  lakes. 


MONTEVIDEO.  201 


XXVI.     URUGUAY— IN    MONTEVIDEO,   THE 
PARIS    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 

WE  begin  our  journeys  in  a  new  country  this  morning. 
We  have  left  Buenos  Aires,  and  after  traveling  all 
night  on  a  great  river  steamer  are  now  casting  anchor  in 
the  harbor  of  Montevideo.  The  day  is  just  dawning,  and 
the  lights  on  the  shore  shine  out  through  the  mist,  mark- 
ing the  shape  of  the  city  and  harbor. 

The  bay  is  like  a  horseshoe  six  miles  in  length  and  is 
so  large  that  many  hundreds  of  vessels  could  be  anchored 
in  it  at  one  time.  Of  late  years,  however,  the  mud  brought 
down  from  the  highlands  through  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  has 
so  filled  it  up  that  the  largest  ships  must  now  stay  several 
miles  from  the  shore. 

We  have  to  wait  some  time  on  the  ship  for  the  health 
officers  and  inspectors  of  customs.  While  we  wait,  let  me 
give  you  a  bird's-eye  view  of  Uruguay.  It  is  the  small- 
est of  the  South  American  republics.  There  are  single 
states  in  Argentina  which  surpass  it  in  size,  and  it  could 
easily  be  lost  in  Brazil.  It  is  only  about  as  large  as  Mis- 
souri.    It  has,  all  told,  not  more  people  than  Boston. 

We  can  see  something  of  its  shape  on  the  map,  but  if  we 
could  fly  over  or  perh'  ps  ride  above  it  on  the  winged  horse 
Pegasus,  we  might  know  it  much  better.  We  should  then 
see  that,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  low  mountain  ranges, 
the  country  is  a  waving  sheet  of  billowy  green,  with  so 
many  streams  of  silvery  water  flowing  through  it  that  they 
make  a  network  upon  it  like  the  veins  of  a  leaf.  We  should 
see  that  it  has  rich  soil,  and  that  cattle  and  sheep  are  scat- 
tered over  it  in  quite  as  large  flocks  as  those  of  Argentina. 


.// 


y 


202 


URUGUAY, 


If  we  looked  closely  we  might  see  that  the  houses  oi 
the  farmers  are  like  the  mud  huts  we  saw  on  the  pampas, 

and  that  the  aspects 
of  nature  are  about 
the  same. 

The  climate  of 
Uruguay  is  delight- 
ful. The  country 
is  as  near  the  equa- 
tor as  Florida  is, 
but  the  weather  is 
not  so  ^ot  in  the 
summer,  nor  so  cold 
in  the  winter.  The 
seasons  are  the  op- 
posite of  ours,  so 
that  when  we  have 
autumn  Uruguay 
has  spring,  and 
when  we  put  on  our 
furs  the  Uruguayan 
ladies  are  using 
their  fans. 

In  such  a  flight 
we  should  notice 
the  long  coast  line 
of  the  country,  and 
might  see  great 
steamboats  sailing 
up  the  Uruguay 
river,  and  smaller 
boats  on  other  streams  in  the  interior.  We  should  see 
but  few  large  towns,  and  should  notice  that  all  railroad 


MONTEVIDEO. 


203 


trains,  steamboats,  and  carts  are  moving  to  and  from  the 
capital,  the  city  of  Montevideo,  which  we  are  about  to 
explore. 

We  take  a  boat  and  ride  to  the  wharves,  noticing  as  we 
go  the  Cerro,  or  hill,  at  the  left,  from  which  the  city  was 
named.  Montevideo  means  '*  I  see  the  mountain."  The 
Cerro  is  the  mountain.  It  is  not  quite  so  high  as  the 
Washington  Monument,  but  the  land  is  so  flat  all  about  it 


Montevideo. 


that  from  the  sea  it  can  readily  be  distinguished  far  off. 
There  is  a  white  tower  upon  it,  and  at  night  you  can  see 
the  revolving  light  in  it  twenty-five  miles  out  from  land. 
But  here  we  are  at  the  wharves.  We  step  out  and  wend 
our  way  through  the  city.  What  large  buildings  are  these 
all  about  us!  They  surpass  those  of  any  city  we  have 
yet  seen  on  our  tour.  Montevideo  is  well  built,  and  its 
people  are  proud  of  its  great  business  blocks. 


204 


URUGUAY. 


How  clean  the  streets  are !  This  comes  from  the  long 
tongue  of  rock  upon  which  Montevideo  is  built.  The 
rock  extends  from  the  Cerro  out  into  the  bay.  It  slopes 
so  on  all  sides  that  the  streets  are  all  up  hill  and  down, 
and  every  rain  washes  them  clean.  Montevideo  is  a  very 
healthful  city,  and  fewer  people  die  in  it,  in  proportion  to 
its  size,  than  in  any  other  city  of  the  world. 


"We  take  a  boat  and  ride  to  the  wharves." 


Get  out  of  the  way  of  those  carts!  They  are  each 
drawn  by  two  or  three  mules  harnessed  abreast.  How 
huge  and  clumsy  they  look!  Each  cart  has  a  bed  made 
of  poles ;  it  has  sides  of  poles  curved  upward  and  tied  to- 
gether with  thongs."  Look  at  the  wheels.  They  are  enor- 
mous. Hear  the  din  they  make  as  they  rattle  over  the 
cobblestone  streets.  There  are  other  carts  coming  up  this 
side  street.  It  is  queer  they  do  not  use  wagons.  No ;  not 
when  you  learn  that  all  vehicles  in  Montevideo  are  taxed 


MONTEVIDEO. 


205 


by  the  number  of  wheels,  and  that  a  four-wheeled  wagon 
would  have  to  pay  twice  as  much  as  a  cart. 

Montevideo  has  very  good  street  cars.  The  streets  of 
the  city  run  so  up  hill  and  down  that  few  cabs  are  used. 
We  can  go  anywhere  on  the  street  cars.  We  ride  upon 
them  by  two-story  and  three-story  houses,  now  passing 


"We  visit  the  Solis  Theater." 

great  plazas,  or  squares,  filled  with  trees.  We  go  out  into 
the  country,  past  beautiful  houses  with  gardens  about 
them,  and  come  back  to  the  city  by  a  new  line. 

We  visit  the  Solis  Theater.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  in 
South  America,  covering  two  acres  and  having  seats  for 
three  thousand  people.  We  go  to  the  cathedral,  and  spend 
some  time  in  visiting  the  national  museum  and  the  pub- 


2o6 


URUGUAY. 


lie  libraries.  Montevideo  has  a  university.  It  has  good 
common  schools,  and  we  learn  that  public  schools  are  being 
established  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  At  present,  how- 
ever, only  about  one  child  in  ten  goes  to  school,  and  the 
most  of  the  common  people  cannot  read  or  write. 

In  the  schools  the  children  study  out  loud.  We  can 
tell  by  the  din  that  a  school  is  going  on  long  before  we 
come  to  the  block  in  which  it  is. 


Cathedral  and  Plaza. 


Montevideo  has  many  rich  people  who  have  vast  estates 
throughout  the  country.  They  Hve  upon  these  in  the 
summer  and  spend  their  winters  in  their  great  houses  in 
Montevideo.  We  stay  some  weeks  in  Uruguay  and  have 
opportunities  to  visit  well-to-do  families.  Their  houses 
are  grand,  but  exceedingly  cold.  The  floors  are  marble, 
and  the  ceilings  are  often  upheld  by  marble  columns  im- 
ported from   Italy.     There  are  no  fires,  for  the  people 


MONTEVIDEO.  207 

believe  artificial  heat  unhealthful,  and  so  they  do  not  have 
stoves,  furnaces,  or  steam-heating  pipes.  The  result  is 
that  when  it  is  cold  the  women  receive  their  callers  sitting 
in  their  furs,  with  their  feet  on  hot-water  bottles,  and  the 
men  often  wear  their  overcoats  when  at  the  table  for  dinner. 

Some  of  the  queerest  customs  of  these  people  are  those 
of  courtship  and  marriage.  Young  women  and  men  can- 
not walk  together  by  themselves,  as  they  do  in  our  coun- 
try. Indeed,  a  Uruguay  girl  must  never  go  out  on  the 
street  unless  she  has  her  mother,  her  aunt,  or  a  servant 
girl  with  her,  and  should  her  boy  friends  call  they  would 
meet  the  whola  family. 

When  a  young  man  begins  to  court  a  young  woman  he 
does  not  come  into  her  house,  but  stands  for  days  in  front 
of  the  building,  and  stares  at  her  window.  In  a  short  time 
she  sees  him  staring.  She  at  once  knows  what  he  means. 
Then  perhaps  she  opens  the  window  and  stares  in  return. 

The  two  are  not  supposed  to  talk  to  each  other,  but  they 
stand  thus  staring  for  hours  at  a  time.  This  is  what  is 
called  in  Montevideo  *'  playing  the  dragon,"  the  young 
man  being  the  dragon.  I  will  not  say  that  never  a  wink 
nor  a  whisper  passes  between  the  two  young  people,  but 
if  so  it  must  be  while  no  one  is  looking.  After  a  time  the 
young  man  goes  to  the  father  of  the  young  woman,  and 
tells  him  he  wishes  to  call  at  the  house  with  a  view  to  a 
proposal  of  marriage.  If  he  gets  the  father's  consent,  he 
comes  and  spends  the  evening  with  his  sweetheart  and  her 
family,  getting  her  as  far  off  from  the  rest  as  he  can.  He 
is  not  allowed  to  see  her  alone  until  they  are  married. 

This  custom  seems  odd  to  us,  and  we  often  slyly  laugh 
in  our  sleeves  when  we  see  a  young  man  dressed  in  his 
best  parading  up  and  down  in  front  of  a  window.  We  do 
not  dare  to  laugh  openly,  for  this  might  make  the  young 


208  URUGUAY. 

man  angry,  and  if  he  became  jealous  we  might  have  to 
fight  him  straightway. 

From  Montevideo  we  take  some  trips  through  the 
country.  We  visit  the  larger  towns  by  railroad  and 
travel  some  time  on  the  Uruguay  river.  Here  we  see  the 
great  meat-extract  establishments.  The  largest  of  them 
are  at  Fray  Bentos,  where  hundreds  of  thousands  of  cattle 
are  yearly  killed  for  meat-extract.  The  lean  meat  is 
stewed  in  warm  water,  being  skimmed  again  and  again  of 
the  fat.  After  a  long  time  the  stew  thickens  into  a  liquid 
like  thin  molasses.  When  it  cools,  it  thickens.  It  is  now 
put  up  in  tin  boxes  and  sent  to  Hamburg,  Germany,  where 
it  is  repacked  in  little  porcelain  jars  and  shipped  all  over 
the  world.  Many  of  us  have  tasted  beef  tea  made  from 
this  Uruguay  meat.  It  is  found  in  our  drug  stores,  and 
is  often  prescribed  by  the  doctors  for  sick  people. 

Not  far  from  Fray  Bentos  we  find  factories  in  which 
dried  or  jerked  beef  is  made.  Such  meat  is  much  liked 
by  the  South  American  people,  and  is  taken  by  the  ship- 
load from  Uruguay  to  Brazil  and  the  West  India  Islands. 
The  animals  are  killed,  and  the  meat  is  stripped  from  their 
bodies  in  sheets  and  dried  in  the  sun  in  such  a  way  that  it 
will  not  spoil,  however  long  it  is  kept. 


XXVII.     UP   THE    RIO  DE  LA   PLATA   SYSTEM 
INTO    THE    HEART   OF   SOUTH    AMERICA. 

WE  are  again  upon  shipboard  this  morning.  We  have 
left  Montevideo  and  are  steaming  through  the  Rio  de 
la  Plata,  upon  whose  tributaries  we  shall  go  into  the  heart 
of  the  South  American  continent. 


HEART    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


209 


What  a  big  stream  it  is!  At  Montevideo  we  could 
hardly  see  the  opposite  shore.  It  is  wide  all  the  way  to 
Buenos  Aires,  and  it  is  many  miles  wide  where  it  is  formed 
by  the  junction  of  the  Uruguay  and  Parana  rivers,  still 
farther  up.  The  Rio  de  la  Plata,  in  fact,  is  more  like  a 
muddy  fresh-water  bay  or  arm  of  the  sea  than  a  river.  It 
is  almost  two  hundred  miles  long,  and  where  it  unites  with 
the  ocean  it  is  more  than  one  hundred  miles  wide. 


Rio  de  la  Plata. 


How  muddy  it  is !  The  water  looks  like  pea  soup.  It 
is  so  dirty  that  we  hesitate  to  get  into  our  bath,  and  when 
we  let  off  the  water  a  thick  coat  of  mud  remains  in  the  tub. 
It  is  so  thick  that  our  feet  leave  marks  in  it  as  deep  as 
those  which  so  frightened  Robinson  Crusoe  on  the  shore 
of  the  desert  island.  The  Rio  de  la  Plata  brings  down  a 
vast  amount  of  earth  washings  from  the  mountains.  It 
contains  so  much  that  if  it  could  all  be  put  upon  wagons 


2IO  URUGUAY. 

twenty  thousand  horses  all  pulling  at  once  could  not  haul 
away  the  load  of  one  hour.  So  much  mud  drops  to  the 
bottom  that  the  river  is  fast  filling  up.  It  is  already  diffi- 
cult for  the  big  ocean  steamers  to  reach  Buenos  Aires,  and 
the  people  are  now  talking  of  a  system  of  jetties  like  that 
of  the  Mississippi  to  deepen  the  river. 

The  Rio  de  la  Plata  system  drains  a  basin  about  half  as 
large  as  the  whole  United  States.  If  we  could  view  it 
from  above  we  should  see  that  it  is  of  the  shape  of  a  great 
horseshoe,  with  the  opening  toward  the  Atlantic.  The 
highlands  of  Brazil  and  the  Andes  form  the  upper  rim  and 
back  of  the  shoe,  while  the  slightly  sloping  plains  of  Pata- 
gonia are  the  rim  on  the  south.  Within  this  shoe  lie  the 
best  lands  of  Argentina,  the  whole  of  Uruguay  and  Para- 
guay, and  large  portions  of  Peru  and  Bolivia. 

In  cHmate  this  basin  is  like  that  of  the  Mississippi  river 
basin  reversed,  the  greatest  tributaries  of  the  system  com- 
ing from  the  hot  lands  of  Brazil  and  Bolivia,  where  palms 
and  rubber  trees  grow,  and  its  mouth  lying  in  the  cooler 
countries  of  wheatfields  and  pastures  in  which  we  have 
lately  been  traveling.  Almost  everywhere  its  climate  is 
healthful.  Its  northern  parts  have  weather  much  like  that 
of  Louisiana  or  Florida,  and  the  south  has  much  the  same 
climate  as  our  middle  States.  Our  ship  stops  at  Buenos 
Aires  for  passengers  and  freight,  and  we  then  start  on  our 
way  to  the  great  Parana. 

We  soon  pass  the  mouth  of  the  Uruguay  river,  and  just 
before  entering  the  Parana  river  we  sail  about  the  large 
island  of  Martin  Gracia  (gra-se'a).  We  can  see  with  our 
glasses  the  fort  upon  its  shore.  There  are  boys  in  soldier 
uniforms  marching  about  it.  They  belong  to  the  Argen- 
tina Naval  School,  which  has  been  established  there,  and 
the  men  who  are  drilling  are  soldiers  used  to  defend  the 


HEART    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA.  2U 

great  fortifications.  Martin  Gracia  is  called  the  Gibraltar 
of  Argentina,  for  it  guards  the  chief  entrance  to  the  Parana 
river.  It  is  one  of  the  historic  points  of  this  region.  It  was 
here  that  the  Spanish  explorers  who  first  visited  Uruguay 
stopped  for  a  time.  During  their  stay  their  pilot,  Martin 
Gracia,  died,  and  they  gave  the  island  his  name  as  a  monu- 
ment. As  we  sail  by  it  we  remember  that  we,  too,  are 
on  an  exploring  expedition.  We  are  entering  waters 
which  were  discovered  by  the  white  man  who,  with  his 
father  John,  was  the  first  to  set  foot  upon  the  soil  of  the 
North  American  continent.  This  was  Sebastian  Cabot, 
who,  only  thirty-four  years  after  Columbus  landed  in 
America,  came  here  and  entered  the  Parana  river.  He 
traveled  up  that  part  of  the  Parana  through  which  we 
shall  go,  and  from  it  went  into  the  Paraguay  river  over 
the  very  same  way  we  shall  sail. 

I  venture,  however,  that  Sebastian  Cabot,  if  he  could  be 
with  us  to-day,  would  think  our  boat  more  wonderful  than 
anything  he  saw  on  his  tour.  His  ship  was  not  one  tenth 
as  large.  It  was  a  small  sailing  vessel,  and  it  took  months 
for  it  to  go  up  the  river.  He  would  wonder  how  we  could 
move  without  sails.  Steam  as  a  motive  power  was  not 
then  discovered,  and  he  would  not  at  first  understand  how 
we  could  make  the  great  paddle  wheels  at  the  side  of  the 
ship  move  it  onward  so  fast  that  the  voyage  can  be  made 
in  six  days.  ^ 

Cabot's  ship  was  probably  lighted  with  oil  or  tallow. 
How  he  would  wonder  at  our  electric  globes  and  the  other 
curious  things  which  have  been  invented  since  then! 

He  would  probably  stare  when  he  sat  down  to  dinner, 
and  might  think  that  our  meals  are  rather  good  for  ex- 
plorers. Here,  for  instance,  is  our  bill  of  fare  for  one  din- 
ner:   ox-tail  soup,    Bologna  sausage  with  potato    salad, 


212 


URUGUAY. 


boiled  beef,  fish  caught  in  the  Parana  river,  curried  chicken 
and  rice,  beefsteak  and  potatoes,  cheese,  guava  jelly, 
English  walnuts,  almonds  and  raisins,  oranges  and  coffee. 
Passing  Martin  Gracia,  we  sail  for  several  hundred  miles 
through  the  delta  of  the  Parana.  The  river  for  a  day's 
ride  north  of  its  mouth  is  about  twenty  miles  wide.     It  has 


On  the  Parana. 

many  channels,  and  it  is  dotted  with  islands,  some  cov- 
ered with  forests  of  peach  trees  and  others  cultivated  by 
the  Italians,  who  raise  vegetables  for  the  Buenos  Aires 
markets. 

All  of  the  islands  are  low,  and  many  have  curious 
houses  upon  them.  We  are  passing  some  now.  They 
look  like  sheds.  They  are  raised  upon  piles,  the  first  floor 
being  reached  by  long  ladders.  This  is  that  the  people 
may  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  floods,  for  the  winds  and 
the  tides  sometimes  roll  great  waves  in  from  the  ocean. 

After  traveling  for  a  day  among  such  islands,  we  reach 
Rosario.  We  steam  by  the  great  ocean  ships  which  we 
saw  from  the  bluff  after  our  tour  of  the  wheatfields. 
They  are  still  loading  wheat,  and  thousands  of  yellow 
bags  are  bobbing  up  and  down  as  they  gallop  over  the 
chutes.     There  are  big  flour  mills  and  grain  elevators  at 


HEART   OF   SOUTH   AMERICA.  213 

Santa  Fe  and  other  towns  farther  up,  and  much  of  the 
shipping  of  the  Parana  river  is  devoted  to  carrying  grain. 

As  we  go  on  we  are  more  and  more  dehghted.  The 
Parana  is  picturesque,  although  the  lowest  parts  of  it  have 
no  very  grand  scenery.  It  is  wider  than  the  Mississippi. 
It  seems  at  times  like  a  great  inland  sea,  the  shores  being 
so  far  apart  that  we  cannot  always  see  both  banks  at  once. 

This  is  largely  due  to  the  islands,  of  which  the  Parana 
has  so  many  that  they  have  never  been  counted.  It  prob- 
ably has  more  islands  than  any  other  river  of  the  world.  In 
our  journey  we  are  always  sailing  in  and  out  among  them, 
now  coming  close  to  the  high  bluffs  of  the  mainland,  and 
now  passing  through  narrow  channels  so  near  to  the 
islands  that  we  can  almost  catch  hold  of  the  willows  and 
feathery  grasses  which  hang  over  and  mirror  themselves 
in  the  water. 

But  some  of  the  grassy  islands  are  moving.  That  great 
mass  of  green  over  there  is  going  past  our  steamer  on  its 
way  down  the  river  almost  as  fast  as  our  engine  is  pushing 
us  up  the  stream.  See,  the  waves  from  the  ship  are 
making  the  island  move  up  and  down.  It  is  a  sheet  of 
billowy  green  rising  and  falling  with  every  wave.  That  is 
a  floating  island!  There  are  many  such  in  the  Parana 
river.  They  are  masses  of  weeds,  flowers,  and  turf  which 
the  floods  have  torn  from  their  foundations  in  the  high- 
lands and  are  carrying  down  to  the  sea.  Some  are  so  firm 
that  they  will  support  a  man,  and  during  the  floods 
jaguars,  snakes,  and  peccaries  are  carried  upon  them  to  the 
islands  about  Buenos  Aires. 

Now  we  have  left  the  middle  of  the  stream  and  are  pass- 
ing close  to  the  great  bluffs  on  the  mainland.  We  are  try- 
ing to  keep  away  from  that  sand  bar  which  is  being  built 
up  by  the  river.    In  places  the  banks  are  being  torn  down, 


314  URUGUAY. 

and  we  have  all  about  us  examples  of  how  the  waters  aid 
in  transforming  the  earth. 

We  can  see  that  the  rivers  are  indeed  the  masons  of  the 
gods,  and  as  we  look  about  us  can  realize  what  a  master 
workman  this  mighty  Parana  is.  The  waters  which  are 
sweeping  past  us,  going  faster  than  a  man  can  walk,  are 
loaded  with  mud.  They  have  been  carrying  down  mud 
for  ages,  and  those  islands  beyond  us  have  been  built  up 
from  the  soil  they  have  dropped. 

The  streams  in  the  Andes  are  now  gathering  dirt  for 
this  river,  and  its  waters  are  carrying  it  down  to  the  low- 
lands. That  island  of  a  hundred  acres  of  green  over  there 
is  made  of  earth  washings  which  have  been  brought  from 
the  highlands.  Some  of  its  particles  were  washed  from  the 
roots  of  palm  trees  in  Brazil,  some  came  from  coffee 
plantations  a  thousand  miles  farther  north,  and  some  were 
perhaps  loosened  by  the  Indians  we  saw  mining  gold  in 
the  wilds  of  the  Bolivian  Andes.  That  bluff  at  our  right 
is  one  hundred  feet  high.  See  how  its  earth  strata,  or 
layers,  are  piled  up  one  on  top  of  the  other  like  those  of  a 
jelly  cake.  Those  layers  have  been  deposited  there  dur- 
ing the  ages,  and  as  we  steam  on  we  can  see  some  of  the 
lands  of  the  future  rising  slowly  under  our  eyes. 

Notice  that  spot  at  the  right  of  the  vessel.  I  mean 
just  over  there  where  the  water  is  rippling.  That  is  a 
sand  bar.  Next  month  it  will  be  a  sandy  island.  Next 
year  it  will  be  covered  with  grass,  and  trees  will  sprout  up, 
sending  down,  as  they  grow,  their  long,  fibrous  roots  to  hold 
in  the  soil.  During  every  flood  old  Mother  Parana  will 
spread  a  new  coat  of  soil  over  her  island  child,  and  soon 
will  appear  one  of  the  forest-grown  patches  which  dot  the 
vast  bed  of  the  river. 

Is  not  nature  a  wonderful  thing?     We  realize  it  more 


HEART    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


215 


at  every  turn  of  the  wheel.  The  land  and  the  sky  seem 
to  change  every  hour,  and  the  scenes  above  us  are  even 
more  glorious  than  those  below.  The  sunsets  are  gor- 
geous. They  paint  the  clouds  with  all  the  hues  of  the  rain- 
bow, and  make  a  golden  canopy  over  the  dark-blue 
Parana.  We  get  up  before  day  to  see  the  sun  rise.  As 
it  comes  up  its  rays  strike  the  dewdrops  upon  the  feathery 
grasses  of  the  islands,  and  myriads  of  diamonds  flash  from 
the  emerald  fields.  At  night  both  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  are  clad  in  the  glorious  moonlight  of  the  semi- 
tropics.  We  linger  late  upon  deck,  picking  out  the  South- 
ern Cross  from  among  the  stars,  and  wondering  at  the 
remarkable  brilliancy  of  the  Milky  Way. 


Corrientes. 


As  we  travel  on  toward  the  equator  we  see  many  more 
trees  ;  the  islands  are  covered  with  them.  The  grasses  are 
more  luxuriant,  and  here  and  there  are  bunches  of  ferny 
bamboo.  Now  and  then  there  is  a  palm  tree  shading 
a  house  on  the  mainland,  and  oranges  and  lemons  are 


2l6  URUGUAY. 

brought  to  the  steamer  at  some  of  the  ports.  We  stop  at 
many  small  tpwns  of  one-story  buildings  with  thatched 
huts  about  them.  The  houses  are  roofed  with  red  tiles, 
and  there  is  always  a  church  spire  rising  high  above  the 
rest  of  the  town. 

After  three  days  we  reach  the  city  of  Corrien^tes.  It  is 
quite  a  large  town  for  this  part  of  the  world.  It  has 
about  thirty  thousand  people,  and  looks  very  imposing  in 
its  position  on  the  high  east  bank  of  the  Parana  river.  It 
is  close  to  the  junction  of  the  Parana  and  the  Paraguay 
rivers,  and  at  its  landing  we  see  steamers  starting  up  the 
Parana,  upon  which  they  can  sail  farther  on  to  the  north- 
east for  hundreds  of  miles. 

Our  own  ship,  however,  is  on  its  way  to  Asuncion 
(a-soon-se-on'),  in  Paraguay,  and  as  Paraguay  is  the  country 
we  are  next  to  explore,  we  leave  the  Parana,  and  steam 
up  the  Paraguay  river. 

The  water  here  is  not  so  muddy  as  that  through  which 
we  have  been  traveling.  The  stream  is  not  so  wide.  It 
is,  however,  a  mighty  river,  as  deep  as  the  Mississippi,  and 
about  eighteen  hundred  miles  long.  It  is  navigable  for 
steamers  for  more  than  a  thousand  miles  above  Corrientes, 
and  small  boats  can  go  upon  it  far  into  Brazil. 

We  get  our  first  sight  of  Paraguay  soon  after  we  leave 
Corrientes.  That  land  on  the  east  bank  belongs  to  it,  and 
those  villages  with  orange  trees  about  them  are  filled  with 
Paraguayan  people. 

As  we  sail  onward  we  find  the  country  wilder.  Now 
and  then  we  go  for  miles  with  virgin  forests  on  both  sides 
of  us.  The  steamer  moves  this  way  and  that  in  follow- 
ing the  channel,  and  we  are  often  close  to  the  banks.  We 
hear  parrots  screaming  at  us  from  the  woods,  and  with 
the  glass  we  now  and  then  catch  sight  of  a  monkey  grin- 


HEART  OF  SOUTH   AMERICA. 


217 


ning  out  of  the  leaves  of  a  tree.  There  are  birds  of  beau- 
tiful plumage,  and  a  flock  of  wild  ducks  now  and  then 
rises  from  the  lagoons  which  we  pass  at  every  few  miles. 


Landing  at  Asuncion. 

We  get  out  our  guns  and  take  a  shot  at  the*  birds.  We 
shoot  at  the  alligators  on  the  shore,  and  now  and  then  one 
scuds  through  the  water  to  swim  out  of  the  way  of  the 
boat,  diving  down  as  we  pass. 

The  west  bank  of  the  river  is  especially  wild.  This  is  a 
part  of  a  vast  wilderness  known  as  the  Chaco,  the  lower 
part  of  which  belongs  to  Argentina,  and  the  upper  to  Para- 
guay. In  the  Chaco  there  are  miles  and  miles  of  virgin 
forest.  The  most  of  it  is  inhabited  by  savages,  and  we 
are  told  that  we  could  not  travel  a  mile  from  the  banks  of 
the  river  without  meeting  jaguars,  monkeys,  and  wild  hogs. 

We  stop  now  and  then  at  a  Paraguayan  town,  and  finally 
land  at  the  wharves  of  Asuncion,  the  capital  of  Paraguay. 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 14 


2l8  PARAGUAY. 


XXVIII.     IN    PARAGUAY. 

PARAGUAY  lies  about  as  far  inland  from  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  as  the  State  of  Illinois,  but  by  our  winding  way 
up  the  rivers  we  have  journeyed  as  great  a  distance  as 
from  New  York  to  Omaha.  We  are  now  about  midway 
on  the  west  border  of  Paraguay  proper,  and  just  opposite 
the  lower  corner  of  a  vast  wilderness  known  as  the  Para- 
guayan Chaco. 

Paraguay  is  composed  of  two  divisions,  Paraguay 
proper  and  the  Chaco.  Paraguay  proper  corresponds  to 
our  States.  The  Chaco  is  more  like  our  Territories.  It 
is  the  "  wild  west  "  of  Paraguay.  It  is  inhabited  only  by 
savage  Indians  and  wild  beasts.  It  is  a  vast  territory  lying 
west  of  the  Paraguay  river  and  north  of  the  Pilcomayo 
river,  being  bounded  on  the  north  by  Bolivia.  The  Chaco 
has  large  forests,  extensive  swamps,  and  some  good  lands. 
It  is  almost  all  in  a  state  of  nature,  having  been  little 
explored. 

Paraguay  proper  is  the  settled  part  of  the  country.  It 
has  all  the  cities  and  towns,  and  is  the  only  part  in  which 
civilized  people  live.  It  lies  east  of  the  Paraguay  river 
and  north  of  the  Parana  river,  being  located  somewhat  as 
lUinois  is  in  our  own  country,  the  Parana  corresponding  to 
the  Ohio  river,  and  the  Paraguay  to  the  Mississippi. 

Paraguay  proper  is  about  as  large  as  Illinois,  and  it  is 
much  like  it  in  character.  The  country  is  beautifully  roll- 
ing, with  numerous  streams  upon  which  the  crops  can  be 
moved  to  the  ports  of  the  Parana  and  Paraguay  rivers.  It 
has  great  pastures  and  large  tracts  of  rich  soil.  There  are 
one  or  two  low  mountain  ranges  running  through  the 


PARAGUAY.  2IQ 

country.  These  mountains  are  covered  with  forests,  and 
they  add  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  the  scenery. 

The  climate  and  products  are  semitropical.  There  are 
small  plantations  of  tobacco,  manioc,  and  sugar  cane. 
There  are  orange  trees  everywhere,  and  clumps  of  palm 
trees  upon  the  great  plains. 

The  people  of  Paraguay  are  few.  They  are  composed  of 
the  whites,  of  the  mixed  race,  and  of  pure  Indians.  Those 
of  the  white  and  mixed  races  number  only  about  six 
hundred  thousand,  and  there  are  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  savage  Indians.  Among  the  civilized 
people  there  are  more  of  the  mixed  race  than  of  the  pure 
whites.  The  Indians  who  inhabited  Paraguay  when  the 
Spaniards  came  were  more  civilized  than  most  of  the  other 
tribes  of  the  continent,  and  the  Spaniards  intermarried 
with  them.  Many  of  their  sons  and  daughters  also  mar- 
ried Indians,  and  we  find  that  nearly  all  the  Paraguay 
people  have  Indian  blood  in  their  veins. 

The  Indians  whom  they  married  were  the  Guaranis 
(gwa-ra-nes^),  and  to-day  the  Guarani  language  is  more 
used  by  the  common  people  than  the  Spanish.  We  shall 
take  with  us  a  guide  who  understands  Guarani  to  act  as 
interpreter  during  our  tour,  for  we  may  be  in  places  where 
the  people  cannot  speak  Spanish. 

Paraguay  has  no  large  cities.  The  largest  by  far  is 
Asuncion,  which  we  are  about  to  explore.  It  contains 
only  thirty  thousand  people.  Villa  Rica(verya  re^ca),  about 
one  hundred  miles  to  the  east,  is  next  in  size.  It  has  per- 
haps eight  thousand.  Other  large  towns  are  Villa  Con- 
cepcion,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of  Asuncion,  on 
the  Paraguay  river,  and  Villa  Encarnacion,  in  the  south,  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Parana  river.  Smaller  towns  and 
numerous  villages  are  scattered  about  over  the  country. 


220 


PARAGUAY. 


The  city  of  Asuncion  is  the  business,  social,  and  finan- 
cial center,  and  has  always  been  the  principal  town  of 
Paraguay^  As  we  go  through  it  we  shall  find  many 
modern  improvements.  It  has  banks,  telegraphs,  colleges, 
and  newspapers.  It  has  good  houses,  several  large 
churches,  and  many  buildings  mossy  with  age. 

Asuncion  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  of  our  hemisphere. 
Babies  born  in  it  had  grown  up  and  become  gray-haired 
men  and  women  before  Captain  John  Smith  started  James- 


Street  in  Asuncion. 


town.  It  was  long  one  of  the  chief  centers  of  civilization 
of  South  America,  and  for  some  years  was  more  important 
than  either  Buenos  Aires  or  Montevideo. 

In  i8ii  Paraguay  declared  itself  independent.  For 
many  years  afterwards  it  was  governed  by  unscrupulous 
rulers  who  oppressed  the  people  cruelly. 


PARAGUAY.  221 

Finally,  one  of  the  rulers,  named  Lopez,  finding  it  so 
easy  to  oppress  his  own  people,  thought  he  could  dictate 
as  he  pleased  to  the  nations  about  him.  He  offended 
Brazil,  Uruguay,  and  Argentina,  and  they  combined  and 
declared  war  upon  him.  They  marched  with  their  armies 
against  the  Paraguayans,  and  although  the  latter  fought 
bravely  they  could  not  withstand  such  a  large  force.  The 
war  lasted  five  years,  and  in  the  end  nearly  all  the  men 
and  many  of  the  women  of  Paraguay  perished.  The  tyrant 
Lopez  was  killed. 

Then  Paraguay  sued  for  peace.  She  lost  much  of  her 
territory  and  became  very  poor.  Asuncion  had  been 
almost  destroyed,  large  parts  of  the  country  had  been  laid 
desolate,  and  of  the  people  there  were  little  more  than 
women  and  children  left. 

Indeed,  so  many  of  the  men  were  killed  that  to-day 
there  are  more  women  than  men  in  the  country.  We 
notice  this  as  we  walk  from  the  wharves  up  into  Asuncion. 
It  is  early  morning,  and  the  streets  are  filled  with  women 
going  to  and  from  market.  How  like  ghosts  they  look! 
Each  is  clad  in  white,  with  a  long  cotton  sheet  wrapped 
about  her  head,  so  that  only  her  dark  face  shows.  The 
most  of  them  are  barefooted,  and  they  make  no  noise  as 
they  walk  spiritlike  through  the  streets. 

There  is  one  coming  toward  us  who  has  a  great  jar  upon 
her  head  and  a  load  of  firewood  in  her  arms.  She  is 
walking  rapidly,  and  her  dark  legs  show  out  below  her 
white  skirts  halfway  to  the  knees.  Behind  her  comes 
another  white-sheeted  figure,  upon  whose  head  Is  a  great 
basket  of  oranges  with  a  chunk  of  raw  meat  on  top.  The 
basket  is  perfectly  balanced,  and  she  walks  along  without 
touching  her  burden.  There  are  other  women  carrying 
all  sorts  of  things  in  the  same  way — bags  of  vegetables, 


222 


PARAGUAY. 


pans  of  meat,  bundles  of  firewood;    in  fact,  they  carry 
everything  on  their  heads.      It  seems  no  trouble  to  keep 

the  loads  steady,  for  as  we  go 
by  they  do  not  lift  up  their 
hands,  and  take  no  pains  to 
avoid  being  jostled. 

We  pass  more  women  on 
our  way  to  the  market  house, 
going  through  the  chief  busi- 
ness streets.  The  city  is  not 
large,  and  it  takes  but  a  short 
time  to  learn  its  most  curious 
features.  It  is  laid  out  in  the 
Spanish  style,  the  streets  cross- 
ing one  another  at  right  angles, 
with  a  park  or  a  plaza  here  and 
there.  But  few  of  the  streets 
are  paved.  The  others  have  a 
roadbed  of  deep  sand  as  red  as 
brick  dust.  This  is  the  color  of 
the  best  soil  of  Paraguay. 
The  streets  are  wide,  but  the  town  is  so  up  hill  and 
down  that  there  are  but  few  carriages.  The  carts  rattle 
as  they  go  over  the  stones.  Many  of  them  are  hauled  by 
three  mules  abreast,  which  are  driven  at  such  a  pace  that 
we  jump  up  on  the  sidewalk  to  get  out  of  the  way. 

What  curious  houses !  They  are  almost  all  of  one  story, 
built  close  to  the  sidewalk,  in  blocks,  so  that  they  form 
solid  walls  running  from  street  to  street.  All  have  iron- 
barred  windows,  and  the  houses  are  painted  each  a  differ- 
ent color.  Here  is  one  of  sky  blue,  the  next  is  rose  pink, 
and  over  the  way  is  one  of  pale  yellow. 

Here  comes  a  policeman.     He  is  dressed  in    a  blue 


"There  is  one  coming 
toward  us." 


PARAGUAY. 


223 


uniform,  with  a  long  sword  at  his  side.  If  he  should  arrest 
us  he  would  take  us  into  a  red  jail,  and  on  the  way  we 
should  pass  the  li-  .  -        - . 

lac-colored  build- 
ing in  which  Con- 
gress meets.  We 
might  see  the 
cream-tinted  pal- 
ace from  which 
thepresident  rules, 
and  should  go  by 
houses  of  every 
color. 

Let  us  take  a 
look  at  the  busi- 
ness part  of  the 
town.  The  stores 
are  not  large,  but 
they  are  stocked 
with  goods  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  That  building  on 
the  corner  is  the  chief  hotel  of  the  country.  It  was  once 
a  palace  of  Lopez,  the  tyrant. 

The  market  house  is  a  block  farther  on.  It  looks  more 
like  a  monastery  than  a  market.  It  is  a  great  one-story 
building,  running  about  a  hollow  square,  with  a  low  roof 
which  extends  out  upon  all  sides,  over  the  cloisters  or 
wide  porches  which  run  round  it.  It  is  painted  Indian 
red,  and  the  color  forms  a  bright  background  for  the 
strange  figures  about  it.  People  are  buying  and  selling 
at  the  meat  stalls  in  the  building.  The  court  inside  is 
filled  with  tables  and  benches,  where  all  kinds  of  things 
Paraguayan  are  sold. 

Let  us  stop  in  the  porches  and  look  about  us.     Eyery 


"They  carry  everything  on  their  heads. 


224 


PARAGUAY. 


part  of  the  market  is  swarming  with  women.  There  are 
scores  of  women  sitting  on  the  bricks,  with  their  wares 
spread  out  before  them.  Others  stand  behind  the  butcher 
counters,  and  with  knives  and  saws  cut  up  great  chunks  of 
meat  for  their  customers.  Others  have  vegetables,  laces, 
and  jewelry,  which  they  beseech  you  to  buy. 

What  a  chatter  they  make  as  they  bargain !      There  are 
no  scales  and  no  measures.     See  this  vegetable  woman 


"The  lilac-colored  building  in  which  Congress  meets." 

who  is  squatting  almost  under  our  feet.  She  has  a  stock 
of  green  peas  which  she  has  arranged  in  piles  on  the 
bricks.  There  is  about  a  pint  in  each  pile,  and  the  cus- 
tomer buys  by  eye  measure.  Each  purchaser  brings  a 
cloth  with  her  to  wrap  up  what  she  buys,  for  the  market 
women  furnish  neither  paper  nor  string. 

In  going  through  the  market  we  can  learn  much  con- 
cerning the  chief  products  of  Paraguay.     We  see  tobacco 


PARAGUAY. 


22$ 


sold  everywhere,  and  we  shall  find  that  Paraguay  raises 
much  tobacco  for  export.  The  greater  part  of  the  tobacco, 
however,  is  consumed  at  home.  Three  fourths  of  the 
women  we  meet  have  cigars  in  their  mouths.  Bothr  buyers 
and  sellers  are  smoking  like  chimneys.     Some  of  the  mar- 


Market,  Asuncion. 

ket  women  are  chewing  cigars,  and  others  are  rolling  up  leaf 
tobacco  to  smoke.  We  see  small  girls  smoking  and  chew- 
ing, and  boys  of  six  and  eight  years  smoke  without  stint. 
Among  other  things  sold  in  large  quantities  are  ma- 
nioc and  oranges.  Manioc  is  a  root  which  in  Paraguay 
takes  the  place  of  both  potatoes  and  wheat  as  food.  Its 
roots  grow  in  great  bunches,  each  root  about  the  size  of 
a  carrot.  There  are  two  varieties.  One  of  these  is 
boiled  or  roasted  much  like  a  potato ;  the  other  must  first 
be  ground  and  squeezed  to  take  out  a  poisonous  juice 
which  it  has  in  it.  After  this  it  becomes  a  flour,  and  is 
eaten  in  soup,  in  stews,  and  in  other  ways. 


226  PARAGUAY. 


XXIX.     PARAGUAY— A    TRIP    INTO    THE 
INTERIOR. 

TO-DAY  we  are  traveling  through  the  interior  of 
Paraguay.  We  have  taken  our  seats  in  one  of  the 
first-class  cars  of  the  railroad,  which  runs  one  hundred 
miles  east  from  Asuncion  to  Villa  Rica,  and  thence  goes 
southward  toward  the  Parana  river.  The  engineer  has 
thrown  a  lot  of  wood  into  the  furnace,  but  the  cars  go  so 
slowly  that  we  are  able  to  see  much  of  the  country  as  we 
pass  through. 

Leaving  Asuncion,  we  go  by  the  villas  of  rich  Para- 
guayans, pass  the  agricultural  college,  where  the  boys  are 
playing  under  the  palm  trees,  and  then  on  into  great  pas- 
tures bordered  with  bushy  woods  and  spotted  here  and 
there  with  small  clumps  of  trees. 

The  lands  are  as  rich  as  our  prairies,  and  resemble  them, 
save  that  thickets  and  groves  everywhere  give  shade  for 
the  cattle.  We  are  in  a  vast  sea  of  grass,  which  seems  to 
be  flowing  in  and  out  among  islands  of  woods.  In  the 
summer  the  woods  are  fragrant  and  the  plains  are  covered 
with  most  beautiful  flowers.  Paraguay  has  miles  of  such 
pastures,  and  upon  them  two  million  cattle  are  feeding. 

There  is  a  big  herd  now  on  our  left.  There  are  men  on 
horseback  moving  to  and  fro  among  the  beasts  and  driv- 
ing them  this  way  and  that.  They  are  probably  picking 
out  the  fat  beeves  for  shipment,  or  they  may  be  about  to 
brand  the  stock. 

A  little  farther  off  to  the  right  we  see  a  village.  We 
pass  villages  at  every  few  miles,  and  there  are  many  small 
towns  at  which  the  train  stops.     The  most  of  the  people  of 


TRIP    INTO   THE    INTERIOR. 


227 


Paraguay  live  in  villages.  Their  houses  are  merely  thatched 
huts  with  walls  made  of  woven  poles  covered  with  mud. 

We  can  easily  visit  one  while  the  train  waits  at  a  station. 
What  a  rude  hut  it  is!  It  is  composed  of  two  parts,  a 
room  about  fifteen  feet  square  and  a  shed.  The  shed  has 
no  walls.  It  is  merely  an  extension  of  the  thatched  roof 
which  covers  the  closed  room,  and  is  upheld  by  poles. 

The  people  Hve  in  the  shed  during  the  day.  There  are 
hammocks  hung  to  the  poles,  and  men  and  women  are 


"What  a  rude  hut  it  is  1' 


sitting  in  them.  Naked  babies  and  half-naked  children 
play  about  on  the  dirt  floor.  The  climate  is  warm  in  the 
summer,  and  it  is  the  breeze  which  sweeps  through  the 
shed  that  makes  life  endurable. 

There  is  but  little  furniture.  We  see  only  a  table  and 
one  or  two  chairs.  The  chief  object  of  interest  is  a  log 
stood  upon  end.     It  is  about  as  high  as  your  waist ;  there 


228 


PARAGUAY. 


is  a  hole  dug  out  of  its  top.  Before  the  log  a  woman  is 
standing.  She  has  a  heavy  stick  or  club  in  her  hand, 
which  she  is  lifting  up  and  dropping  on  some  corn  which 
she  has  put  in  the  hole.  Such  logs  are  the  grist  mills  of 
Paraguay.  In  them  the  women  pound  their  corn  and 
manioc  to  flour. 

We  find  the  people  hospitable.     They  live  simply,  but 

do  not  seem  to  care 
for  anything  except 
something  to  eat,  a 
little  liquor  to  drink, 
and  enough  cigars  to 
smoke  all  the  day 
through. 

Now  we  are  again 
on  the  train,  mov- 
ing out  through  the 
fields.  What  are  those 
odd  little  hills  which 
stand  out  like  small 
haycocks  among  the 
green  grass?  There 
are  hundredsof  them, 
dark-red  mounds, 
spotting  the  fieldsand 
looking  as  though 
they  had  been  thrown  up  by  man.  Now  we  are  passing 
some  mounds  as  high  as  our  waists,  and  now  we  have 
come  to  a  field  in  which  there  are  thousands  which  hardly 
reach  to  our  knees.  What  can  they  be  ?  They  look  like 
nothing  but  dirt.  They  are  dirt.  They  are  the  mounds 
of  ant  cities. 

Paraguay  has  hundreds  of  millions  of  ants,  which  throw 


Indian  Children. 


TRIP   INTO   THE    INTERIOR.  229 

^p  such  mounds  all  over  the  country.  In  some  places 
there  are  so  many  that  they  destroy  the  pastures,  and 
when  the  people  wish  to  cultivate  the  ground  they  first 
must  fight  the  ants.  Every  hill  must  be  dug  up,  for  there 
are  as  many  ants  below  as  above  ground.  After  being 
dug  up  the  hills  are  set  on  fire.  They  burn  easily,  and 
in  this  way  the  ants  are  destroyed. 

The  ants  sometimes  burrow  into  the  houses,  and  a 
woman  may  awake  in  the  morning  to  find  a  great  mound 
of  dirt  on  her  parlor  floor,  the  ants  having  decided  to  build 
a  village  there.  She  sweeps  out  the  dirt  and  deluges  the 
brick  floor  with  hot  water,  sometimes  to  find,  a  morning 
or  so  later,  that  the  ants  are  again  besieging  her  dwelling. 

We  pass  many  trees  on  our  way  through  the  country. 
Even  on  the  plains  there  are  woods  always  in  sight. 
Paraguay  has  large  forests  containing  excellent  lumber. 
Some  of  its  trees  could  be  used  for  shipbuilding,  for  the 
wood  can  remain  under  the  water  for  years  and  still  not 
decay.  Other  trees  have  a  fine  grain,  so  that  they 
would  make  beautiful  furniture,  and  others  are  good  for 
tan  bark,  dyewoods,  and  many  sorts  of  things. 

As  we  think  of  this,  it  seems  strange  that  these  great 
forests  do  not  supply  all  South  America  with  lumber.  It 
would  surely  be  cheaper  to  get  wood  for  Argentina,  Chile, 
and  Peru  from  here  than  from  our  forests  in  Oregon  and 
New  England.  Yes,  it  seems  so  at  first,  but  not  after  you 
have  studied  the  matter. 

The  Paraguay  woods  are  so  heavy  that  they  will  not 
float.  The  trees  must  be  loaded  upon  carts  and  dragged 
through  the  forests,  or  they  must  be  put  upon  railroad 
cars  and  brought  to  Asuncion  before  they  can  be  shipped 
down  the  Paraguay  to  Buenos  Aires.  In  our  country 
we  have  the  snow  to  help  us  get  the  trees  to  the  rivers. 


230 


PARAGUAY. 


and  our  lumber  floats.  Here  it  costs  a  great  deal  to 
get  the  logs  out  of  the  forests,  and  the  freight  rates  on 
the  river  steamers  are  so  high  that  it  is  much  cheaper  for 
the  people  along  the  coasts  of  South  America  to  bring 
their  lumber  from  North  America,  more  than  five  thou- 
sand miles  away,  than  to  buy  it  here,  nearer  home. 

But  we  are  nearing  a 
station.  Get  out  your 
money  for  that  crowd 
of  women  peddlers  who 
are  coming  to  canvass 
the  cars.  Here  they 
are  now.  One  has  a 
pile  of  straw  hats  fitted 
one  into  the  other  on 
the  top  of  her  head.  She 
will  sell  one  for  fifteen 
cents  of  our  money. 
There  is  a  bareheaded 
girl  with  a  platter  of 
cakes  each  as  large  around  as  a  one- gallon  crock,  and  there 
are  others  with  fruits  and  baby  clothes  and  fine  laces. 
Notice  the  lace  handkerchiefs  which  that  dark-faced  little 
girl  spreads  out  before  you.  They  are  as  delicate  as  cob- 
webs, and  are  made  of  fibers  grown  in  the  country.  Lace- 
making  is  one  of  the  great  industries  of  Paraguayan 
women,  and  you  can  buy  beautiful  things  very  cheap. 

Let  us  get  out  on  the  platform  and  follow  the  crowd 
rushing  toward  the  women  squatted  down  on  the  bricks. 
They  are  peddlers,  but  their  wares  are  too  heavy  to  be 
brought  into  the  train.  Some  are  selling  meat.  Yes, 
selling  beefsteaks  at  a  station !  They  have  baskets  of  raw 
beef  before  them,  and  are  peddling  it  out  to  the  passengers. 


"As  delicate  as  cobwebs.' 


TRIP    INTO    THE    INTERIOR. 


231 


What  a  lot  of  the  women  are  smoking!  Nearly  every 
one  has  a  cigar  in  her  mouth.  If  it  were  not  for  this  we 
might  think  some  of  the  girls  very  pretty.  They  have 
cream-colored  faces,  dark  eyes,  soft  black  hair,  and  fairly 
good  teeth.  Nearly  all  are  in  their  bare  feet,  and  as  we 
walk  we  have  to  be  careful  not  to  step  on  their  toes 
with  our  heavy  shoes. 

But  here  is  a  maiden  with  a  lot  of  oranges  piled  up  be- 
fore her.      Let  us  see  how  many  we  can  get  for  a  medio, 


"You  often  see  a  hundred  women  trotting  along  thus  in  single  L'.q.  ' 

which  is  about  three  quarters  of  a  cent  of  our  money. 
I  point  to  the  oranges  and  say  in  my  poor  Spanish : 
"  Quantos  por  un  medio,  senorita?  " 

"  Ocho,"  replies  the  girl,  as  she  puffs  a  volume  of  smoke 
out  of  her  nostrils  and  hands  me  eight  golden  balls. 

We  find  the  oranges  as  sweet  as  the  best  of  our  Florida 
fruit.  They  have  a  fine  flavor,  and  are  so  cheap  that  we 
buy  more  and  more  as  we  go  from  station  to  station. 


232 


PARAGUAY. 


Paraguay  is  beyond  all  others  the  country  of  oranges. 
You  see  orange  trees  in  every  thicket,  and  out  of  every 
forest  they  peep  at  you  with  their  thousand  golden  eyes. 
The  mud  huts  of  the  farmers  stand  amid  orange  groves, 
and  in  some  places  there  are  so  many  oranges  that  they 
rot  on  the  ground. 

Oranges  are  exported  by  millions  down  the  Paraguay 
river  to  Uruguay  and  Argentina.  They  are  brought  to 
the  banks  of  the  river  from  the  orchards  in  ox  carts  so 
large  that  each  will  hold  about  five  thousand  oranges. 
The  fruit  is  dumped  out  like  so  many  potatoes,  the  drivers 
taking  no  more  care  in  emptying  their  carts  than  our 
drivers  do  when  they  dump  dirt  in  repairing  the  roads. 


waemm^t^p^W^^: 


W^^W;W^ 


■■^? 


Loading  a  Steamer. 


At  the  towns  along  the  Paraguay  river  during  the  season 
there  are  great  piles  of  oranges,  with  scores  of  women 
kneeling  before  them,  picking  up  the  fruit  and  putting  it 


THE   CHACO.  233 

into  baskets.  As  soon  as  a  basket  is  full  it  is  handed  to  a 
woman  carrier,  who  raises  it  to  her  head,  and  thus  balan- 
cing it  trots  along  with  it  over  a  broad  walk  above  the  water 
to  the  steamer.  You  often  see  a  hundred  women  trotting 
along  thus  in  single  file.  Each  has  on  the  top  of  her  head 
a  round  basket. filled  with  oranges.  She  does  not  touch 
her  hand  to  the  basket,  and  walks  rapidly  over  the  spring- 
ing boards. 

At  the  steamer  the  hold  is  first  filled  with  oranges. 
Then  a  wire  netting  is  stretched  about  the  deck,  making 
a  fence  as  high  as  a  man's  head,  within  which  the  golden 
fruit  is  piled. 


XXX.     PARAGUAY— A    CURIOUS   TEA— 
THE    CHACO    AND    ITS    INDIANS. 

WE  have  returned  from  our  trip  in  the  interior  and  are 
again  on  our  way  to  the  north.  There  are  boats 
twice  a  week  from  Asuncion  to  Villa  Concepcion,  and  once 
a  fortnight  a  BraziHan  steamer  calls  at  the  Paraguay  ports 
on  its  way  into  the  wilds  of  southern  Brazil.  We  resolve 
to  go  first  to  Villa  Concepcion,  and  from  there  to  make 
some  tours  through  the  forests  on  both  sides  of  the  river. 
Shortly  after  leaving  Asuncion  the  Paraguay  narrows. 
The  scenes  along  it  are  of  great  beauty.  The  banks  are 
well  wooded.  We  now  and  then  see  a  clearing  in  which 
there  is  a  village  with  orange  trees  hanging  above  the 
thatched  huts.  There  are  more  wild  birds  than  there  were 
farther  south.  Alligators  are  numerous,  and  when  we 
rise  before  day  we  now  and  then  catch  a  glimpse  of  a 
panther  swimming  across  the  river,  as  they  sometimes  do 

CARP.  S.  AM.  — 15 


234  PARAGUAY.- 

about  dawn.  We  pass  the  mouth  of  the  river  Confuso, 
and  come  to  land  again  at  Villa  Concepcion. 

Here  we  see  scores  of  men  bringing  bales  of  mate,  or 
Paraguay  tea,  down  to  the  wharves  and  putting  them  on 
the  steamer.  Mate  is  one  of  the  chief  exports  of  Para- 
guay. It  commands  a  high  price  in  all  South  American 
countries  below  the  equator,  and,  indeed,  Paraguay  pro- 
duces so  much  of  it  every  year  that  if  the  product  were  all 
cooked  up  at  once  it  would  make  a  cup  of  tea  for  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  world. 

Mate  was  used  as  tea  before  Columbus  discovered 
America.  The  Indians  induced  the  Spaniards  to  try  it, 
and  it  has  now  become  the  favorite  beverage  of  many 
South  American  nations.  Argentina  uses  seven  times  as 
much  mate  as  coffee,  and  twenty-six  times  as  much  mate  as 
Chinese  or  Japanese  tea.  Brazil,  which  raises  more  coffee 
than  any  other  country  in  the  world,  uses  a  great  deal  of 
mate,  and  the  people  of  Uruguay  and  Chile  prefer  it  to  all 
other  drinks. 

But  what  is  this  tea  that  so  tickles  the  South  American 
palate?  It  is  easy  to  learn.  There  is  a  woman  on  the 
steamer  who  is  drinking  some  now.  Our  cabin  boy  will 
bring  us  a  bowl  if  we  ask  him.  It  is  served  in  a  round 
gourd  as  big  as  a  baseball.  The  gourd  has  a  handle 
fitted  into  the  side,  and  you  drink  your  tea  boiling  hot. 
A  spoonful  of  the  powdered  leaves  is  put  into  the  bowl, 
the  hot  water  is  poured  in,  and  the  tea  is  ready  for  use. 
You  do  not  put  the  bowl  to  your  mouth,  but  suck  the  mate 
up  through  a  tube.  The  tube  is  called  a  bombilla  (bom- 
be^ya).  Sometimes  it  is  of  silver,  sometimes  of  brass,  and 
among  the  poorer  people  often  a  hollow  reed.  The  metal 
tube  ends  in  a  bulb.  This  bulb  is  pierced  with  holes,  so 
that  the  tea  is  strained  as  you  suck  it  into  your  mouth. 


THE    CHACO. 


235 


Here  comes  the  boy  with  our  mate.  Be  careful  how 
you  put  the  bombilla  between  your  lips.  The  boiling  tea 
has  made  it  so  hot  that  it  may  take  off  the  skin.  Wet 
your  lips  first  and  then  try  it.  How  bitter  the  tea  is!  It 
does  not  taste  at  all  good  at  first  drinking,  but  you  will 
come  to  like  it,  and  will  probably  want  it  again  and  again 
during  our  tour. 

The  tea  is  quite  stimulating.  It  is  said  to  be  good  for 
the  brain,  and  it  will  refresh  you  when  you  are  tired. 
Many  South  Americans  take  nothing  else  for  their  early 
breakfast.  If  the  gauchos  of  the  Argentina  pampas  can 
have  their  mate  in  the  morning  they  will  gallop  on  horse- 
back all  day,  and  be  satisfied  if  they  get  their  first  meal 
when  we  are  eating  our  suppers. 


Gathering  Mate. 


We  leave  the  ship  at  Villa  Concepcion  and  go  many 
miles  inland  to  see  the  tea  forests.  They  are  called  yer- 
bales.     The  plants  which  furnish  the  mate  are  low  bushes 


236  PARAGUAY. 

which  grow  among  the  other  trees.  They  are  much  like 
the  holly  bush,  and  sometimes  grow  as  high  as  a  small 
orange  tree.  The  leaves  are  green  all  the  year  round,  and 
it  is  the  younger  leaves  which  make  the  best  tea. 

The  people  who  gather  the  mate  leaves  are  called 
yerbateros  (yer-ba-ta'r5s).  They  chop  off  the  small 
branches  and  bring  them  in  bundles  to  the  camps  which 
have  been  put  up  in  the  forest.  Here  there  are  drying 
houses,  each  consisting  of  a  framework  with  an  arched  roof 
of  poles  woven  together  and  upheld  by  posts.  Under  the 
roof  there  is  a  floor  of  clay,  so  well  hammered  down  that 
it  is  as  hard  as  stone. 

The  branches  are  taken  from  the  men  as  soon  as  they 
are  brought  in  by  other  laborers,  who  weave  them  in  and 
out  among  the  poles  of  the  roof,  so  that  the  framework  is 
thatched  with  the  leaves.  Then  a  slow  fire  is  built  on  the 
clay  floor,  and  the  leaves  are  thus  roasted  until  they  are 
perfectly  dry.  Sweet-smelling  woods  are  used  for  fuel, 
and  the  fires  are  kept  up  from  daylight  until  dark,  great 
care  being  taken  that  there  be  but  little  smoke. 

When  the  leaves  have  become  perfectly  dry  the  fire  is 
removed  and  the  leaves  are  pushed  through  the  frame- 
work, crumbling  up  as  they  fall  to  the  floor.  They  are 
now  pounded  with  flat  wooden  clubs  until  they  become  a 
coarse  powder.     This  forms  the  mate  of  commerce. 

The  mate  powder  is  now  ready  for  packing.  This  is 
done  in  bags  of  rawhide.  The  skin  of  a  large  ox  is  taken 
just  as  it  comes  fresh  from  the  animal,  and  sewed  up, 
forming  a  bag  like  a  square  pillowcase  about  three  feet  in 
length.  Into  this  the  mate  is  put,  being  so  pounded  down 
that  when  the  bag  is  full  it  forms  a  solid  bale.  Now  the 
top  is  sewed  up  with  thongs  of  green  hide,  and  the  bale  is 
placed  in  the  sun.     The  skin  dries  as  the  sun's  rays  strike 


THE    CHACO. 


237 


it,  shrinking  in  and  pressing  the  mate  tighter  and  tighter, 
until  the  whole  seems  one  solid  rock. 

About  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  such  bales  of  tea  are 
made  in  Paraguay  each  year,  and  we  shall* see  mule  trains 
loaded  with  them  making  their  way 
toward  Villa  Concepcion  and  the  other 
ports  of  the  country. 

We  meet  many  Indians  as  we  go 
through    the    forests.      Some    of   the 
more  civilized  are  employed  gathering 
mate ;  others  are  savage,  and  we  must 
be  careful  how  we  go  about  by  our- 
selves.    We  find  this  especially  so 
in   the   Chaco,   in   which   we   make 
some  journeys  after  coming  back  to 
Villa  Concepcion.    The  Paraguayan 
Chaco  is  inhabited  almost  entirely 
by  Indians,  some  of  whom  are  of  the 
strangest  tribes  of  our  hemisphere. 

There  are  some  Indians  who  go 
naked  all  the  year  round.  The  Tobas,  for  instance,  wear 
but  little  clothes,  except  when  they  come  into  the  pres- 
ence of  white  people  or  cross  the  Paraguay  river  to  trade. 
These  Indians  are  very  tall,  some  being  six  feet  in  height. 
Their  skin  is  so  thick  that  it  is  said  they  can  walk  on 
thorny  ground  without  sandals.  The  men  are  good  hunt- 
ers and  fishers,  but  the  women  do  most  of  the  work, 
planting  the  crops,  cooking  the  meals,  and  weaving  the 
blankets.  The  Toba  women  tatoo  themselves  in  blue 
and  red  lines,  and  dye  their  hair  yellow. 

Another  tribe  is  the  Lenguas.  They  are  experts  in 
taming  wild  animals  and  birds.  Farther  north  there  are 
Indians  who   were  noted  as  oarsmen  when  the  Spanish 


Toba  Indian. 


238 


PARAGUAY. 


first  came.  They  were  terrible  warriors,  and  when  on 
the  rivers  they  had  oars  tipped  with  spearheads,  so  that 
in  close  combats  they  could  use  them  as  weapons. 

Many  of  the  South  American  Indians  do  not  live  in 
wigwams.  Some  wander  from  place  to  place,  having  no 
houses  whatever.  Others  have  villages  with  huts  so  built 
together   that   one    roof   of   straw   thatch   covers   several 


Indian  Family. 


houses.  One  part  of  the  hut  is  used  for  cooking  and 
another  for  sleeping.  The  people  sleep  upon  skins  when 
they  have  them,  otherwise  on  the  bare  ground.  The 
women  are  good  cooks,  and  some  are  quite  cleanly,  wash- 
ing their  pots  and  pans  at  the  close  of  each  meal.  They 
have  but  few  cooking  utensils.  They  use  shells  for  spoons. 
Every  one  carries  his  own  knife,  but  forks  are  unknown. 


THE    CHACO 


239 


Their  chief  weapons  are  bows  and  arrows,  some  of  the 
Indians  being  so  skillful  that  they  can  bring  down  the 
most  savage  beasts  of  the  forest. 

The  Chaco  is  a  great  hunting  country.     We  can  shoot 
alligators  along  any  of  the  small  streams,  and  in  traveling 


There  are  jaguars  in  the  Chaco. 


near  the  water  at  night  we  have  to  step  carefully,  lest  we 
get  our  feet  into  their  mouths.  There  are  jaguars  in  the 
Chaco  so  strong  that  one  of  them  can  easily  carry  off  an 
ox  or  a  horse.  They  do  not  attack  men  unless  they  are 
very  hungry,  and  if  we  meet  them  in  the  underbrush  a 
yell  will  usually  drive  them  away. 

As  we  camp  overnight  in  the  forest,  however,  we  are 
now  and  then  aroused  by  the  crack  of  a  branch,  and,  look- 
ing up,  see  the  fierce  eyes  of  a  brute  flashing  out  of  the 


240 


PARAGUAY. 


darkness.  We  find  we  have  to  send  away  our  dogs.  The 
jaguars  hate  dogs,  and  we  are  told  that  for  this  reason  it 
is  dangerous  to  travel  with  them  through  the  forest. 

Among  the  most  dangerous  animals  of  the  Chaco  are 
the  wild  dogs.  There  is  one  called  the  aguara  guazu, 
which  is  a  beast  of  prey.  It  is  not  quite  three  feet  long, 
and  is  for  all  the  world  like  a  sharp-eared  yellow  dog  with 
black  legs.  It  has  a  sharp  muzzle,  and  its  ears  are  always 
erect.  It  has  a  bushy  tail  Hke  that  of  a  fox.  It  has  a 
hoarse  bark,  which  can  be  heard  a  long  way  off.    This  dog 

lives     in     the 


swamps  and 
goes  hunting 
at  night.  It 
attacks  sheep 
and  cattle,  and 
will  fight  for 
its  life  with  a 
jaguar. 

But  what  is 
that  shrill, 

whistling  cry 
which  we  hear 

night  after  night  as  we  go  through  the  forests?  That  is  a 
tapir,  an  animal  with  a  head  much  like  a  pig,  although  it  is 
as  big  as  a  pony.  It  is  very  dangerous  if  interfered  with, 
and  its  skin  is  so  thick  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  kill 
it  unless  you  hit  it  just  in  the  forehead  or  behind  the. 
shoulder. 

Even  more  dangerous,  however,  are  the  peccaries,  which 
are  found  in  great  numbers  in  parts  of  the  Chaco.  They 
are  little  wild  pigs  with  sharp  teeth,  which  go  in  herds  of 
eight  or  ten,  and  sometimes  in  droves  of  fifty  or  more. 


Peccary. 


THE    CHACO. 


24 1 


They  are  very  ferocious,  and  often  attack  travelers  who 
come  near  them  on  foot.  If  we  should  meet  them,  our 
best  way  would  be  to  climb  a  tree  and  shoot  at  them  from 


Tapir. 

there.  Peccaries  live  on  roots  and  fallen  fruits.  They  eat 
the  wild  oranges  and  the  nuts  of  the  woods,  and  often 
come  at  night  close  to  the  Paraguayan  villages  to  get  the 
oranges  which  grow  in  the  gardens. 

There  are  many  other  curious  beasts  which  live  in  these 
forests.  We  might  stay  for  weeks  and  have  excellent 
hunting,  for  in  addition  to  the  dangerous  animals  there 
are  many  species  of  deer,  antelope,  and  different  kinds  of 
birds.  The  mail  steamer,  however,  is  almost  due  at  Villa 
Concepcion,  and  we  must  hurry  back  if  we  would  go  in  it 
to  Brazil 


(242) 


Brazil. 


MATTO   GROSSO.  243 


XXXI.     IN    BRAZIL— THE    WILDS    OF    MATTO 

GROSSO. 

TO-DAY  we  are  again  on  the  Paraguay  river.  We 
have  been  travehng  for  some  time  upon  it,  and  are 
now  in  the  wilds  of  southern  Brazil.  Our  ship  is  winding 
in  and  out  among  mountains,  at  the  bases  of  which  are  fern 
trees  and  tall  palms.  Now  we  go  by  forests  which  are  so 
filled  with  vines  and  creepers  that  we  can  see  only  a  few 
feet  back  from  the  banks,  and  we  could  not  possibly  make 
our  way  into  the  interior  without  an  ax  or  a  knife. 

What  is  that  furry  face  with  the  twinkling  black  eyes 
which  grins  at  us  out  of  the  branches,  chattering  now  and 
then,  and  gnashing  its  teeth?  That  is  a  monkey.  There 
are  thousands  of  them  in  these  forests.  That  great  red- 
and-blue  bird  with  a  hooked  bill  as  long  as  your  finger, 
which  you  see  farther  on,  Is  a  toucan.  There  are  all  sorts  of 
strange  birds  in  the  trees. 

There  are  many  wild  animals.  See  that  white  deer 
there  in  the  bushes.  Those  black  things  near  the  shore, 
which  look  like  small  logs,  are  alligators.  They  have  bee;n 
disturbed  by  the  waves  of  the  steamer  and  are  scrambling 
upon  the  banks.  Some  are  diving  down  into  the  water, 
and  others  are  swimming  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  our  boat. 

Look  at  the  Indians  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  They 
are  half  naked,  and  they  shake  their  spears  at  us  as  we  steam 
on  our  way.  This  part  of  Brazil  is  full  of  wild  Indians; 
there  are  more  Indians  than  whites.  There  are  vast  regions 
farther  on  to  the  west  which  have  no  people  but  savages. 

As  we  f)roceed,  the  wildness  increases,  save  here  and 
there  where  we  pass  farmhouses  cut  out  of  the  woods. 


244 


BRAZIL- 


Now  our  boat  stops  at  one  for  fresh  meat.  The  cattle  are 
lifted  on  board  by  their  horns.  We  are  supplied  with  fish 
from  the  river  and  the  small  streams  flowing  into  it.     There 

are  so  many  fish 
here  that  you  have 
only  to  explode  a 
dynamite  cartridge 
under  the  water, 
and  dozens  of  fish, 
killed  by  the  shock, 
will  float  on  their 
backs  on  all  sides 
of  your  boat. 

At  the  bound- 
ary of  Brazil  we 
pass  a  fortifi- 
cation with  sol- 
diers about  it. 
This  is  Fort  Co- 
imbra ;  a  Httle 
farther  on  we 
pass  the  Brazil- 
ian arsenal  of 
Godario,  and 
soon  after  this 
reach  the  little  city 
of  Corumba'.  This 
port  has  the  only 
customs  house  of 
this  part  of  Brazil.  Inspectors  in  blue  uniforms  board 
our  steamer  as  it  stops  at  the  wharves,  and  our  baggage 
must  be  spread  out  before  them. 

While  the  steamer  waits,  we  visit  the  city,  which  is  on 


"There  are  thousands  of  them  in  these  forests. 


MATTO    GROSSO. 


245 


a  high  bluff  overlooking  the  river.  It  has  about  ten 
thousand  people,  and  it  looks  so  much  like  Asuncion  that 
we  might  think  we  were  back  among  the  Paraguayans, 
were  it  not  that  the  language  is  strange.     The  people  of 


A  Farmhouse. 

Corumba  all  speak  Portuguese.  This  is  the  language  of 
Brazil,  and  from  now  on  for  weeks  we  shall  hear  little  else. 
It  sounds  much  Hke  Spanish,  but  is  a  Httle  harsher  and  not 
so  melodious. 

We  are  now  traveling  in  the  state  of  Matto  Grosso.  The 
words  mean  "  Great  Forest,"  and  the  state  of  Matto  Grosso 
is  one  of  the  wildest  parts  of  Brazil.  It  has  vast  territories 
covered  with  woods  which  have  never  been  trodden  by 
white  men,  and  there  are  plains  in  it  upon  which  thou- 
sands of  wild  cattle  are  feeding.  It  is  a  large  state,  being 
twice  as  large  as  Texas  and  more  than  ten  times  as  large 
as  New  York.     The  part  through  which  we  are  traveling 


2-46 


BRAZIL. 


contains  the  only  white  settlements,  and  Cuyaba  (coo- 
ya-ba'),  the  city  where  we  next  stop,  is  its  capital,  the 
metropolis  of  interior  Brazil. 

The  way  we  came  up  the  Paraguay  river  is  the  only 
easy  route  to  Matto  Grosso.  There  are  no  railroads  in 
this  part  of  Brazil,  and  although  Cuyaba  is  not  more  than 


"  At  the  boundary  of  Brazil  we  pass  a  fortification  with  soldiers  about  it." 

nine  hundred  miles  from  Rio  de  Janeiro,  its  officials  and 
mails  have  to  go  more  than  thirty-eight  hundred  miles  to 
reach  it.  They  come  on  steamers  down  the  Atlantic  to 
Montevideo,  and  then  steam  on  through  the  Rio  de  la 
Plata,  Parana,  and  Paraguay  to  Corumba.  Here  smaller 
ships  are  taken,  and  they  travel  up  other  rivers  until  they 
land  at  last  at  this  point,  which  Is  farther  by  this  way  from 
the  ocean  than  Salt  Lake  City  is  distant  from  Washington. 
It  takes  more  than  a  month  for  a  letter  now  to  come  from 


MATTO    GROSSO. 


247 


Cuyaba. 


Rio  de  Janeiro  to  Cuyaba,  but  at  some  time  a  railroad  will 
be  built  overland,  upon  which  the  trip  can  be  made  in  less 
than  two  days. 

At  present  almost  all  traveling  is  done  upon  the  water. 
We  do  not  find  horses  and  mules  common  here,  and  away 
from  the  river  we  are  offered  bullocks  for  riding  animals. 
We  see  women  and  men  riding  bullocks,  the  women  sitting 
astride  like  the  men.  Bullocks  are  used  for  plowing. 
They  drag  huge  carts  over  the  road,  and  they  serve  as 
pack  animals.  It  seems  very  funny  when  we  first  climb 
on  their  backs,  but  we  find  some  of  them  good  saddle 
beasts,  their  gait  being  a  sort  of  pace. 

We  are  surprised  at  the  size  of  Cuyaba.  It  has  about 
twenty  thousand  people,  and,  for  such  an  out-of-the- 
way  place,  many  modern  improvements.      It  has  street 


248 


BRAZIL. 


cars,  waterworks,  and  a  cathedral.  It  has  colleges  and 
schools.  There  is  music  on  Sunday  afternoon  in  the 
plaza^  and  we  go  there  often  at  eventide  to  enjoy  ourselves 

under  the  great  palm  trees, 
whose  fanlike  leaves  move  to 
and  fro  in  the  breeze. 

The  region  about  Cuyaba 
is  a  rich  farming  country,  and 
we  are  told  that  there  is  gold 
in  the  hills  near  the  city. 
There  are  mines  close  to  the 
town,  which  are  still  being 
worked,  and  after  a  big  rain 
the  Cuyaba  boys  go  out  and 
search  for  grains  of  gold  in 
the  streets  which  have  been 
flooded  by  the  streams  from 
the  hills.  We  are  told  that 
the  boys  are  often  well  paid 
for  their  trouble,  and  we  get  down  on  our  knees  to  see  if 
perhaps  we  can  find  a  stray  golden  nugget,  but,  alas!  there 
is  nothing  but  sand. 

We  spend  some  time  in  the  woods  near  Cuyaba.  They 
are  full  of  strange  plants,  one  of  which  is  exported  to  all 
parts  of  the  world.  This  is  ipecac,  a  small  shrub  which 
grows  in  clumps  or  patches  in  the  moist  parts  of  the  for- 
ests. It  is  often  used  to  make  children  vomit  when  they 
have  swallowed  a  penny  or  eaten  some  indigestible  or 
poisonous  thing. 

We  see  Indians  hunting  for  it  as  we  go  through  the 
forest.  When  they  find  one  of  the  plants  they  pry  it  out 
of  the  ground  with  a  stick,  raising  it  very  carefully  to  save 
all  the  roots,  for  the  roots  form  the  article  of  commerce. 


An  Indian  of  Matto  Grosso. 


SOUTHERN    BRAZIL 


"We  are  offered  bullocks  for  riding  animals." 

After  they  are  taken  out  they  are  dried  for  three  days  in 
the  sun.  They  are  then  broken  up,  cleaned,  and  packed 
in  bags  of  cow's  skin,  and  thus  shipped  to  the  factories  of 
Europe. 


XXXII.     SOUTHERN    BRAZIL. 


WE  have  been  traveling  more  than  a  month  since  we 
left  Matto  Grosso.  From  Cuyaba  we  sailed  back 
into  the  Paraguay  river,  and  on  down  through  the  Parana 
to  Montevideo.  There  we  took  a  coasting  steamer,  and 
we  are  now  making  our  way  from  port  to  port  along  the 
shores  of  southern  Brazil. 

What  an  immense  country  Brazil  is !      It  is  hard  for  us 
to  realize  its  extent.     The  states  which  look  so  small  on  the 


250  BRAZIL. 

map  widen  out  as  we  travel  over  them,  and  we  are  struck 
with  the  fact  that  we  are  in  one  of  the  large  countries 
of  the  world.  There  are  only  four  other  nations  which 
own  so  much  land  as  the  Brazilians.  Their  republic  is 
larger  than  the  whole  United  States,  without  Alaska  and 
our  outlying  islands.  It  is  longer  from  north  to  south 
than  the  distance  from  Pittsburg  to  San  Francisco,  and  its 
width  from  east  to  west  is  greater  than  the  distance  from 
New  York  to  Salt  Lake  City.  It  contains  more  than 
3,228,000  square  miles,  almost  half  of  all  the  land  of 
South  America. 

Brazil  has  more  than  half  the  people  of  South  America. 
Its  population  is  estimated  at  eighteen  millions.  Its  peo- 
ple are  different  in  their  origin  as  well  as  in  their  customs 
from  the  other  South  Americans.  Brazil  was  discovered 
and  settled  by  the  Portuguese,  and  its  people  speak  the 
Portuguese  tongue.  We  often  hear  South  America  called 
the  Spanish-American  continent.  It  would  be  quite  as 
proper  to  call  it  the  Portuguese-American  continent,  on 
account  of  the  size  and  population  of  Brazil. 

Such  a  vast  territory  must  have  many  kinds  of  soil 
and  many  cHmates.  Brazil  extends  from  north  of  the 
equator  far  to  the  southward,  and  the  weather  of  the 
different  regions  changes  also  according  to  their  different 
elevations  above  the  sea.  In  the  low  Amazon  valley  it  is 
almost  always  hot,  but  the  winds  from  the  ocean  sweep 
up  the  wide  river  and  make  some  parts  of  it  healthful. 
South  of  the  Amazon  valley,  a  little  back  from  the  coast, 
the  land  is  high,  so  that  it  has  quite  as  salubrious  a  climate 
as  many  parts  of  our  country.  Some  of  the  plateaus,  from 
lack  of  rain,  are  deserts,  others  upon  which  heavy  rains 
fall  are  covered  with  woods,  and  upon  others  much  farther 
south  can  be  grown  all  the  crops  of  our  Southern  States. 


SOUTHERN    BRAZIL. 


251 


Near  the  borders  of  Uruguay  there  are  pastures  as  good 
as  those  of  Argentina.  There  the  thermometer  never  rises 
above  100°  in  the  summer  month  of  January,  and  there 
in  midwinter  (July)  there  is  often  snow  on  the  ground. 


"There  are  vast  pastures." 

We  reach  this  region  first  as  we  sail  along  the  coast. 
We  stop  at  Porto  Alegre  (por'to  a-la^gra),  the  capital  of 
the  state  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul.  This  state  is  devoted  to 
raising  wheat  and  meat.  Its  pastures  are  much  like  those 
of  Argentina ;  it  has  beef  factories  such  as  we  saw  on  the 
Uruguay  river,  in  which  hundreds  of  oxen  are  killed  every 
day  for  jerked  or  dried  beef. 

Porto  Alegre  has  thirty-five  thousand  people.  It  has 
daily  newspapers,  colleges,  public  schools,  and  fine  stores. 
We  are  surprised  to  see  that  the  faces  of  more  than  half  of 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 16 


252  BRAZIL. 

the  people  are  German.  We  speak  German  to  the  clerks 
in  the  stores,  and  meet  many  little  German  children  on  the 
streets.  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  is  largely  settled  by  Germans. 
They  have  come  here  from  Europe,  and  find  the  climate 
quite  as  good  as  that  of  their  fatherland  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic.  Many  of  them  own  large  farms,  stores, 
and  factories. 

Leaving  Porto  Alegre,  we  go  north  to  Santos  (san'tos), 
sail  up  a  wide  bay,  and  come  into  a  harbor  which  is  filled 
with  ships  from  Europe  and  the  United  States,  loading 
and  unloading  freight.  Santos  is  the  chief  port  for  a  large 
part  of  southern  Brazil.  It  is  where  the  most  of  the  coffee 
is  shipped,  and  it  is  visited  regularly  by  twenty  lines  of 
ocean  steamers,  which  come  here  to  bring  goods  and  to 
carry  away  coffee  to  other  parts  of  the  world.  We  see 
some  ships  loading  coffee ;  others  are  taking  off  bags  of 
rice  from  India,  boxes  of  codfish  from  Massachusetts  and 
Newfoundland,  coal  and  cottons  from  England,  and  lum- 
ber from  the  pine  lands  of  Maine. 

It  is  a  busy  scene,  and  we  are  anxious  to  get  to  the 
shore.  Now  we  have  hired  a  dark-faced  Portuguese  boat- 
man, and  have  made  our  way  among  the  ships  to  the 
wharves.  What  a  strong  smell  of  coffee  surrounds  us! 
The  air  is  full  of  it.  It  comes  from  the  warehouses  back  of 
the  wharves,  in  which  we  see  half-naked  negroes  shoveling 
coffee  from  piles  into  bags.  It  comes  from  the  bags  which 
other  negroes  are  carrying  on  to  the  steamers,  and  also 
from  those  big  wagons  loaded  with  coffee  on  their  way 
through  the  city.  Here  the  coffee  bags  are  being  lifted 
by  steam  cranes  from  the  wharves  to  the  steamers ;  there 
men  are  trotting  along  with  bags  on  their  backs,  and  over 
there  they  are  carrying  the  bags  on  their  heads  and  empty- 
ing them   out   on   the  floors  of  the  factories,  where  the 


SOUTHERN    BRAZIL. 


253 


coffee  is  to  be  cleaned  and  rebagged  before  it  is  ready  for 
shipment.  We  shall  see  more  of  this  in  Rio  de  Janeiro 
later  on. 

Santos  has  about  twenty-five  thousand  people.  It  is  a 
town  of  two-  and  three-story  houses  built  along  narrow 
streets  on  the  edge  of  the  harbor.      It  is  very  unhealthful. 


lU 

!                                            J 

r"^                 ] 

ft 

1 

pSK^'^'HIf  is  Jlf^j 

'*>W^'^W^mM 

^^^■^p 

Loading  Coffee- 
It  frequently  has  yellow  fever,  and  strangers  are  liable  to 
get  the  disease.  We  are  warned  not  to  stay  long,  and 
hurry  on  to  the  station  and  take  tickets  for  the  more  salu- 
brious city  of  Sao  Paulo  (souN  pou%),  which  lies  on  the 
plateau  over  the  mountains,  about  forty-seven  miles  back 
from  the  sea. 

The  ride  is  delightful.  Leaving  the  city,  we  are  carried 
through  fields  of  bananas,  the  tall  plants  bending  down 
with  great  bunches  of  yellow  fruit.  We  go  through  a 
jungle  of  tropical  vegetation,  and  then  ascend  the  moun- 


254 


BRAZIL. 


tains,  winding  this  way  and  that  through  a  dense  forest  in 
which  there  are  miUions  of  orchids.  The  trees  are  loaded 
with  these  beautiful  air  plants.  They  are  bound  to- 
gether with  creepers  and  vines,  and  the  whole  forms  a  for- 
est wall  on  each  side  of  the  track,  so  dense  that  we  can  see 
only  a  few  feet  through  the  trees. 


*' A  great  feat  of  civil  engineering. 


The  railroad  which  takes  us  up  the  coast  range  is  a 
great  feat  of  civil  engineering.  The  ordinary  locomo- 
tives are  uncoupled  from  the  cars  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  and  our  train  is  divided  into  sections  of  two 
cars  each.  Around  each  two  cars  a  steel  rope,  or  cable,  is 
wrapped,  and  this  cable  is  fastened  to  a  third  car  which 
has  a  brake,  so  that  the  engineers  can  keep  it  from  sliding 
back  if  an  accident  should  happen  on  the  way  up.     An- 


SOUTHERN   BRAZIL.  255 

Other  cable  is  joined  to  the  grip  car.  This  cable  extends 
several  miles  up  the  mountains  to  a  stationary  steam 
engine.  When  the  men  on  the  car  give  a  signal,  the  en- 
gineer above  moves  a  lever,  and  a  great  wheel  begins  to 
revolve,  rolling  up  the  cable,  and  so  pulling  our  cars  on 
their  way  to  the  station.  When  we  reach  the  first  engine 
house,  another  cable  is  attached,  connecting  us  with  an 
engine  house  still  higher  up,  and  so  the  cars  are  dragged 
on  until  at  the  third  station  they  have  been  taken  about 
a  half-mile  higher  up  in  the  air  than  they  were  when  they 
started.  At  this  point  the  cars  are  again  fastened  together, 
and  a  railroad  locomotive  rapidly  carries  our  train  over 
a  gently  sloping  plateau,  and  lands  us  in  Sao  Paulo. 

Here  we  remain  several  days.  Sao  Paulo  is  the  largest 
city  of  southern  Brazil.  It  has  about  two  hundred  thou- 
sand people,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  enterprising  cities  of 
the  republic. 

It  is  more  like  one  of  our  own  towns  than  any  South 
American  place  we  have  yet  seen.  It  is  the  capital  of  the 
state  of  Sao  Paulo,  which  has  some  of  the  best  of  the 
coffee  lands.  The  city  has  government  buildings  as  good 
as  those  of  the  State  capitals  of  our  country,  and  some  of 
its  schoolhouses  are  as  fine  as  any  schoolhouse  in  the 
United  States. 

We  stay  overnight  at  the  hotel,  and  upon  rising  take  a 
walk  through  the  town.  It  is  early  morning,  and  the 
children  are  going  to  school.  There  are  scores  of  bright- 
faced  little  girls  without  hats,  in  black  dresses.  There  are 
little  boys  wearing  caps,  coats,  and  knee  breeches,  but 
with  their  legs  bare  almost  to  their  shoes,  where  their 
short  stockings  end.  Each  child  has  a  bag  of  books  in 
his  hand ;  they  are  trudging  along  over  the  cobblestone 
streets. 


256 


BRAZIL. 


In  Sao  Paulo. 

Get  out  of  the  way  of  the  street  cars!  They  come  in 
a  train,  one  car  following  another  until  a  dozen  have 
passed.  When  they  are  beyond  the  business  part  of  the 
city  they  will  branch  out  in  various  directions. 

What  odd  cars  they  are!  Some  of  them  are  loaded 
with  freight.  These  are  second-class  cars,  intended  for 
people  going  to  and  from  market.  They  are  used  chiefly 
by  the  servants,  for  a  man  with  a  basket  or  bundle  is  not 
allowed  to  ride  in  a  regular  passenger  car. 

What  is  that  queer  vehicle  coming  this  way?  I  mean 
that  two-wheeled  carriage  drawn  by  the  pony,  with  the 
seat  high  up  off  the  ground.  That  is  a  tilbury,  a  favorite 
vehicle  in  all  Brazilian  cities,  and  well  fitted  lor  a  hilly 
town  like  Sao  Paulo. 


THE    LAND    OF    COFFEE.  257 

What  a  lot  of  negroes  we  meet  everywhere!  They 
make  us  feel  as  though  we  were  at  home  in  our  southern 
States.  Brazil  has  more  negroes  in  proportion  to  the 
whites  than  any  part  of  our  country.  It  had  slaves  much 
longer  than  we  had,  but  now  all  have  been  freed,  and  peo- 
ple of  African  blood  have  equal  rights  with  all  others. 

Here  come  three  Africans  now.  Listen  to  that  laugh. 
It  sounds  like  the  jolly  yah!  yah!  yah!  of  our  dark- 
skinned  Americans.  Let  us  wait  here  on  the  corner  and 
hear  some  of  their  jokes  as  they  pass. 

Why  don't  we  laugh  ?  That  man  on  the  left  said  some- 
thing funny,  and  his  fellows  and  himself  are  convulsed. 
They  are  speaking  quite  loud,  and  though  v/e  hear  what 
they  say  we  cannot  see  the  joke.  They  are  speaking  in 
Portuguese,  the  language  used  by  both  colored  and  whites 
in  Brazil. 


XXXIII.     IN    THE    LAND    OF    COFFEE. 

BRAZIL  is  the  chief  coffee  country  in  the  world.  It 
produces  more  than  two  thirds  of  all  the  coffee  used 
by  man.  This  very  morning  there  are  millions  of  people 
in  the  United  States  who  have  had  a  cup  of  Brazilian 
coffee  with  their  breakfasts.  Most  of  the  coffee  we  drink 
comes  from  Brazil. 

Coffee  grows  best  in  a  semitropical  climate.  The 
plants  must  not  have  frost,  but  at  the  same  time  they  must 
not  be  spoiled  by  the  heat.  The  climate  of  many  parts 
of  Brazil  is  just  right  for  them.  Indeed,  it  is  ^aid  that 
coffee  can  be  grown  in  every  one  of  the  Brazilian  states. 
The  best  coffee  regions,  however,  are  to  be  found  on  the 


258 


BRAZIL. 


highlands  west  and  south  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Here  the 
land  is  from  one  thousand  to  three  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea.  It  is  gently  rolling,  and  it  has  thousands  of  hill- 
sides which  are  covered  with  coffee  plantations. 

The  best  of  all  coffee  lands,  indeed,  lie  in  the  state  of 
Sao  Paulo,  where  we  now  are.  They  are  several  hundred 
miles  back  from  the  coast,  and  by  taking  the  train  we  can 
visit  some  of  the  richest  coffee  estates  of  the  world. 

The  largest  plantations  are  so  far  from  the  city  of  Sao 
Paulo  that  it  would  take  us  almost  a  day  to  reach  them  by 
railroad.  We  ride  through  rolling  plains  covered  with 
grass ;  now  we  pass  clumps  of  palms  whose  tops  extend 
out  like  great  fans,  and  then  go  on  through  forests  of  hard- 
wood trees,   the  trunks  of  which  are  twisted  about  like 


^^-^^^n^3|^^^^^HVj* 

m 

K...  :-3^,,  1 

"^fe^Mfe 

|;i*^|| 

^'^  '..,   -.1^^     S'^^i^^  »■ 

^m.  v.rv^:i";'f,:  ■■■■ 

Banana  Plantation. 


THE    LAND    OF    COFFEE.  259 

corkscrews.  The  trees  are  bound  together  in  a  mat  made 
by  the  long  vines  and  creepers  which  hang  down  from 
their  branches.  Now  we  pass  a  banana  plantation,  and 
now  we  see  lemon  and  orange  trees  in  the  gardens  by  the 
side  of  the  road. 

It  is  dry,  for  this  part  of  Brazil  has  not  had  rain  for 
some  weeks.  There  is  a  cool  wind  blowing,  but  the  air 
which  comes  over  the  plowed  fields  is  loaded  with  dust. 


Coffee  Plantation. 

The  boys  who  peddle  fruit  at  the  stations  are  covered  with 
dust,  and  we  find  ourselves  sneezing  as  the  stuff  gets  into 
our  noses. 

What  queer  dust  it  is!      It  is  as  red  as  brick  dust,  and 
everything  it  touches  turns  red.     We  are  soon  as  red  as 


260  BRAZIL. 

Sioux  Indians;  our  collars  have  red  streaks  at  the  neck, 
and  our  coats  look  as  though  they  were  dusted  with  Cay- 
enne pepper.  There  is  red  on  the  fences  and  trees  and  on 
the  green  bushes.  We  see  wide  streaks  of  red  cutting 
their  way  through  the  reddish-green  grass.  Those  streaks 
are  the  roads,  for  the  very  ground  itself  under  the  sod  is 
the  color  of  pounded-up  brick. 

This  red  land  is  the  famous  coffee  soil  of  Brazil.  Its 
color  comes  from  the  large  amount  of  iron  mixed  with  the 
other  matter  composing  it,  and  the  redder  the  soil  the  bet- 
ter it  is  thought  to  be  for  the  raising  of  coffee. 

About  fifty  miles  from  Sao  Paulo  the  plantations  begin, 
and  from  there  on  we  ride  all  day  long  among  hills  cov- 
ered with  coffee  bushes. 

Most  of  the  coffee  is  grown  upon  large  plantations. 
The  estate  we  visit  has  about  five  million  trees.  It  is  in- 
deed the  largest  coffee  plantation  of  the  world.  It  is  so 
large  that  we  could  not  walk  around  the  outside  of  it  in 
one  day,  if  we  began  when  the  sun  rose  and  kept  walking 
steadily  until  dark.  It  is  so  large  that  its  managers  have 
railroad  tracks  extending  from  the  factories  to  all  parts  of 
it,  and  we  are  carried  from  one  coffee  field  to  another  on 
a  little  steam  engine  which  is  kept  for  hauling  the  crops. 

The  ride  is  a  beautiful  one.  We  spend  hours  going 
through  one  coffee  field  after  another.  There  is  nothing 
but  coffee  bushes  about  us  as  far  as  our  eyes  can  reach. 
The  whole  land  is  covered  with  a  mantle  of  green,  striped 
here  and  there  with  bands  of  bright  red.  The  green 
mantle  is  the  coffee  bushes,  and  the  red  stripes  the 
roads.  The  bushes  are  laid  out  in  regular  lines,  and  they 
extend  on  and  on  until  they  lose  themselves  in  the  sky  at 
the  tops  of  the  hills  in  the  distance. 

As  we  proceed  we  can  see  the  coffee  plants  in  their 


THE    LAND    OF    COFFEE. 


261 


different  stages  of  growth.  In  some  fields  they  are  not  so 
high  as  our  knees,  and  in  others  they  are  three  times  as  high 
as  our  heads.  Here  men  are  plowing  the  fields,  driving 
carefully  through  the  green  trees,  turning  up  the  red  soil. 
There  boys  are  down  on  their  knees  pulling  out  the  weeds, 
and  farther  on  a 
gang  of  laborers  is 
laying  out  new  rows 
among  the  stumps  of 
the  freshly  cleared 
land,  and  putting  in 
coffee  plants  from 
the  nurseries. 

We  shall  learn,  as 
we  go,  what  a  great 
deal  of  work  is  re- 
quired to  produce 
even  one  cup  of  cof- 
fee. Upon  this  plan- 
tation five  thousand 
people  are  busy  rais- 
ing the  crop  and  pre- 
paring it  for  the 
market.  In  the  first 
place,  let  me  tell  you  just  what  the  coffee  beans  are.  As 
you  see  them  in  the  stores  they  are  far  different  from  the 
coffee  berries  which  are  picked  from  the  trees.  The  beans 
are  the  seeds  of  the  berries.  You  can  see  some  of  the 
berries  on  that  bush  over  there.  They  are  just  like  dark- 
red  cherries.  They  hang  in  clusters  close  to  the  limbs, 
among  the  green  leaves.  In  each  berry  are  one  or  two 
seeds,  which  form  the  coffee  of  commerce.  How  they  are 
got  out  we  shall  see  at  the  factory  later  on. 


Coffee  Tree. 


262  BRAZIL. 

Here  in  the  fields  we  must  learn  how  the  bushes  are 
grown. 

The  beans  must  first  be  sown  in  seed  beds.  They 
soon  sprout,  and  little  green  plants  shoot  up  through 
the  soil.  After  a  few  months  they  have  grown  a  foot 
high.  They  are  now  ready  for  transplanting  to  the  fields, 
where  they  are  to  become  big  coffee  bushes,  or,  as  they 
are  sometimes  called,  coffee  trees. 


Picking  Coffee  Berries. 

The  plants  are  set  quite  deep  in  the  ground.  A  little 
basin  is  dug  out  for  each  one,  and  at  first  sticks  or  leaves 
are  spread  over  it  to  protect  it  from  the  hot  rays  of  the 
sun.  It  is  carefully  hoed  to  keep  down  the  weeds,  and 
when  it  is  four  years  old  it  begins  to  bear  fruit. 

A  good  tree  should  produce  three  or  four  pounds 
of  coffee  beans  a  year,  and  in  the  rich  coffee  lands  of 
South  Brazil  a  tree  often  bears  crops  for  thirty  years,  and 
sometimes  more. 


THE    LAND    OF    COFFEE. 


263 


The  coffee  bushes  begin  to  blossom  in  December,  and 
in  April  or  May  the  berries  are  ripe  and  the  picking 
begins.  There  are  then  hundreds  of  men,  women,  and 
children  moving  among  the  bushes.  They  are  picking  the 
ripe  red  berries  into  baskets  and  carrying  them  to  the  cars 
which  are  to  take  them  to  the  factories  on  the  plantation. 


Carting  Coffee. 

During  our  journey  we  see  here  and  there  long  rows  of 
one-story  houses,  and  near  them  large  buildings  which  look 
like  machine  shops.  The  small  houses  are  the  homes  of 
the  laborers  on  the  estate.  The  big  ones  are  the  places  in 
which  the  coffee  seeds  are  taken  out  of  the  berries  and 
prepared  for  the  markets.  They  contain  machinery  of 
different  kinds  for  extracting  the  seeds,  and  near  them  are 
the  drying  floors,  great  fields  paved  with  cement,  upon 
which  the  coffee  beans  are  dried  in  the  sun  after  they  are 
taken  out  of  the  berries. 


264 


BRAZIL. 


But  first  let  us  see  how  the  seeds  are  extracted.  There 
are  some  berries  which  have  just  come  in  from  the  fields. 
Take  one  up  and  look  at  it.  It  is  just  like  a  cherry,  and 
almost  as  soft.  Bite  into  it  if  you  will.  It  is  not  bad  to 
taste,  though  it  is  not  much  Hke  cofTee.  Just  inside  the 
skin  is  a  pulp,  and  within  this  are  two  half-round  cofTee 
beans  with  their  flat  sides,  touching  each  other.  Take  out 
the  seeds.  They  do  not  look  green  like  the  cofTee  of 
comrnerce.     They  are  white.      Bite  one  of  them  again  and 


Drying  Coffee. 

you  find  that  it  has  two  skins.  The  outer  skin  is  white. 
It  is  like  parchment.  The  inner  skin  is  as  thin  as  the 
finest  tissue  paper  you  can  imagine.  The  outside  skin  is 
called  the  parchment  skin,  and  that  within  the  silver  skin, 
for  it  is  much  like  silver  spun  out  as  fine  as  a  cobweb. 
Both  of  these  must  be  taken  off  before  the  cofTee  can  be 
sent  to  our  markets. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  get  ofT  the  pulp.     For 
this  purpose  the  berries  are  thrown  into  a  hopper  and  run 


THE    LAND    OF    COFFEE. 


265 


through  machines  which  squash  the  pulp  without  hurting 
the  seeds.  By  these  machines  the  berries  are  reduced  to 
a  mush  of  pulp  and  seeds.  The  mush  is  now  carried  over 
a  long  copper  cyHnder  about  two  feet  in  diameter.  In  the 
cylinder  there  are  hundreds  of  holes,  each  big  enough  for 
a  coffee  bean  to  pass  through  it.     As  the  mush  falls  upon 


**  Most  of  them  are  Italians." 

the  cylinder,  the  beans  go  through  the  holes  and  are  car- 
ried into  a  little  canal,  from  which  they  float  off  into 
great  vats. 

They  are  next  scoured  clean  in  a  tank  in  which  a  great 
screw  moves  round  and  round  among  the  beans,  leaving 
them  at  the  end  as  white  as  snow. 

The  next  process  is  drying.  The  white  beans  are 
spread  out  upon  the  drying  platforms,  and  are  left  in  the 
sun  for  several  weeks  until  every  one  of  them  has  become 
as  dry  as  a  bone.     They  are  carefully  watched  at  this 


266  BRAZIL. 

time.  Men  stir  them  about  with  wooden  rakes,  so  that 
they  may  be  evenly  dried,  and  cover  them  up  at  night  and 
when  it  rains,  so  that  they  may  not  get  wet. 

This  requires  great  care  and  much  work,  but  when  the 
beans  are  thoroughly  dried  they  are  by  no  means  ready 
for  sale.  Each  little  bean  has  to  be  skinned.  It  has  to  be 
undressed,  as  it  were.  Its  parchment  coat  must  be  taken 
off,  and  its  silver-skin  underclothes  removed,  so  that  it 
may  be  sent  out  in  its  olive-green  nakedness  to  our  mar- 
kets. 

To  do  this  it  is  thrown  into  machines  which  break  the 
skins.  It  is  next  carried  into  fanning  mills,  in  which  the 
skins  are  blown  out  in  one  place  in  the  shape  of  chaff,  like 
the  chaff  of  a  thrashing  machine,  and  the  coffee  seeds,  now 
olive  green,  flow  out  by  themselves. 

The  seeds  are  of  different  sizes,  some  large  and  some 
small,  some  round  and  some  almost  flat.  They  must  be 
separated  and  graded  before  they  are  ready  for  shipment. 
This  is  done  by  passing  them  over  a  series  of  sieves  in 
which  there  are  holes  of  different  sizes,  so  that  the  grains 
of  each  kind  are  gathered  together,  and  they  flow  out 
through  different  pipes  into  bags,  ready  to  be  shipped  to 
the  markets  of  the  world. 

The  coffee  bags  are  of  one  size.  Each  will  hold  one 
hundred  and  thirty-two  pounds.  As  soon  as  a  bag  is 
full  it  is  sewed  up  at  the  top  and  dragged  off  to  the  side. 
Later  on  it  is  taken  on  the  cars  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  or  San- 
tos, and  there  loaded  upon  ships  which  carry  it  to  the 
United  States  or  to  Europe. 

We  spend  some  time  in  going  about  among  the  labor- 
ers on  the  estate.  Most  of  them  are  Italians,  who  have 
taken  the  place  of  the  negro  slaves  who  were  the  coffee 
workers  of  Brazil  a  few  years  ago. 


RIO  DE  JANEIRO.  26^ 

We  see  that  the  plantation  is  carefully  managed.  It 
has  its  overseers,  its  bookkeepers  and  accountants,  who  try- 
to  see  that  not  a  cent  goes  to  waste.  There  is  a  large 
store  upon  it,  at  which  the  laborers  can  buy  food,  and  it 
has  its  own  bakery,  foundry,  and  sawmills.  It  is  indeed 
a  little  world  of  its  own,  which  has  grown  up  here  in  the 
heart  of  South  America  to  produce  the  coffee  which  we 
drink  at  our  meals.  '^ 


XXXIV.     RIO    DE   JANEIRO. 

WE  are  again  on  shipboard  this  morning.  We  have 
gone  back  to  Santos  and  taken  the  steamer  for  Rio, 
and  are  now  sailing  into  its  wonderful  harbor.  We  might 
have  traveled  from  Sao  Paulo  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  by  rail, 
but  we  wish  to  pass  through  the  harbor  of  Rio,  for  it  is  the 
most  beautiful  harbor  of  the  whole  world.  It  has  been 
compared  with  the  harbor  of  the  Golden  Horn  of  Con- 
stantinople ;  but  the  author  has  seen  both  places,  and  he 
thinks  the  Bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  far  finer.  This  bay  is 
much  the  shape  of  a  great  pear,  and  is  so  large  that  all  the 
ships  of  the  world  could  be  anchored  in  it  at  one  time. 

About  the  harbor,  just  a  little  back  from  its  shores,  rise 
the  Organ  Mountains,  covered  with  the  rich  green  of  the 
tropics.  Some  of  the  hills  are  of  curious  shapes.  One 
looks  like  a  hunchback,  and  the  people  have  called  it 
the  *'  Corcovado,"  a  Portuguese  word  which  means  hunch- 
back. Its  top  is  more  than  a  half-mile  above  the  city,  and 
there  is  a  little  railroad  which  goes  up  it.  Another  hill 
summit  is  much  like  the  round  head  of  a  negro,  the  trees 
upon  it  at  a  distance  looking  like  the  wool  on  the  head  of 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 17 


268 


BRAZIL. 


an  African.  Others  remind  us  of  battlements  and  forts, 
and  all  together  they  form  a  great  wall  of  green  about  the 
harbor. 

We  enter  the  bay  at  the  smaller  end,  or  the  stem  of  the 
pear.  We  go  in  between  tw.9  forts,  passing  through  a 
narrow  channel.  On  one  side  of  us  is  a  great  mountain  of 
rock  formed  like  a  sugar  loaf.      It  rises  almost  straight  up 


We  go  in  between  two  forts." 


from  the  sea  to  a  height  greater  than  that  of  two  Wash- 
ington monuments  one  on  top  of  the  other.  On  the  op- 
posite side  are  islands  so  close  that  at  a  distance  we  fear 
we  may  graze  the  shore  as  we  steam  in. 

Now  we  have  passed  through  the  entrance.  We  are  in 
a  landlocked  sea,  upon  which  scores  of  little  islands  are 
seemingly  floating,  and  in  front  of  us,  under  the  mighty 
hills,  resting  apparently  upon  the  water,  is  the  red-and- 


RIO    DE   JANEIRO.  269 

white  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  looking  at  us  through  the 
masts  of  the  steamers  anchored  in  front  of  the  town. 
Closer  still,  we  see  that  the  houses  are  of  all  shapes,  sizes,' 
and  colors.  They  are  roofed  with  red  tiles,  spotted  with 
moss,  and  many  of  them  are  dirty  with  the  moldy  damp 
of  old  age. 

Rio  de  Janeiro  is  one  of  the  old  cities  of  our  hemisphere. 
It  has  grown  up  here  because  of  its  excellent  harbor,  and 
because  it  is  situated  at  such  a  place  that  goods  can  be 
easily  landed  and  carried  by  railroad  to  interior  Brazil. 

Let  us  stop  a  moment  before  going  on  shore,  while  I 
tell  you  its  history.  It  is  called  Rio  de  Janeiro.  It  is 
always  important  to  know  just  what  names  mean,  for  from 
the  name  of  a  place  we  can  often  learn  something  of  its 
origin.  It  is  so  with  Rio  de  Janeiro.  This  harbor  was 
discovered  just  ten  years  after  Columbus  landed  in 
America.  At  that  time  navigators  from  the  different 
parts  of  Europe  were  sailing  across  the  Atlantic  to  find 
out  all  about  the  New  World. 

Among  them  were  two  men  named  Joaa  Manoel  and 
Amerigo  Vespucci.  They  sailed  down  the  coast  of  Brazil 
in  1 50 1,  and  when  they  came  by  the  sugar  loaf  into  the 
bay  where  we  now  are  they  thought  it  was  the  mouth  of 
a  mighty  river,  ^  they  called  it  Rio.  The  day  that  they 
came  was  the  ist  of  January,  and  the  latter  part  of  the 
name  was  supplied  by  the  month — **  River  of  January," 
Rio  de  Janeiro.  It  was  afterwards  discovered  that  it  was 
not  a  river  at  all,  for  although  about  twenty  small  rivers  flow 
down  the  mountains  into  the  harbor,  its  waters  are  more 
an  arm  of  the  sea  than  the  product  of  these  little  streams. 

It  was  more  than  fifty  years  after  this  before  the  first  set- 
tlement was  made.  About  sixty-five  years  before  the 
Pilgrim  fathers  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  Massachusetts,  in 


270  BRAZIL. 

order  that  they  might  estabHsh  a  colony  where  they  could 
worship  God  their  own  way,  some  French  Huguenots  emi- 
grated to  South  America,  for  the  same  reason,  and  chose 
for  their  settlement  one  of  the  rocky  islands  of  this  harbor. 

Here  they  Hved  for  some  time ;  but  the  Portuguese,  who 
claimed  all  Brazil  by  right  of  discovery,  made  war  upon 
them  and  finally  drove  them  away.  It  was  shortly  after 
this  that  Rio  de  Janeiro  was  first  started,  but  it  was  not 
made  the  capital  of  all  Brazil  until  1 762. 

The  city  at  first  was  slow  in  growing.  There  were 
other  cities,  such  as  Bahia,  farther  north,  which  were  rnuch 
more  important,  and  it  was  not  until  1808  that  the  harbor 
was  opened  to  the  commerce  of  the  world.  When  this 
was  done  ships  from  all  parts  of  Europe  began  to  land 
here,  and  the  commerce  which  sprang  up  made  Rio  grow 
very  fast. 

Rio  de  Janeiro  was  for  a  long  time  the  residence  of  the 
rulers  sent  by  the  King  of  Portugal  to  govern  Brazil,  and 
when  in  1822  the  Brazilians  broke  away  from  Portugal  and 
declared  theij-  independence,  much  as  we  declared  our 
independence  of  England  in  1776,  this  place  was  kept  as 
the  capital. 

Brazil  did  not  at  once  become  a  republic.  Its  people 
thought  they  would  prefer  a  monarchy,  and  they  chose 
Dom  Pedro  I.,  one  of  the  sons  of  the  King  of  Portugal,  as 
their  ruler.  He  did  not  get  along  well  with  his  subjects, 
however,  and  seeing  that  he  could  not  reign  peaceably,  he 
said  he  would  give  up  the  throne  if  they  would  make  his 
little  boy  their  ruler  in  his  stead. 

The  Brazilians  agreed  to  do  this,  although  little  Dom 
Pedro  II.  was  then  only  six  years  of  age.  The  boy  was 
declared  emperor,  and  some  of  the  best  men  were  chosen 
to  manage  the  government  until  he  grew  old  enough  to 


RIO    DE   JANEIRO. 


271 


rule  for  himself.  This  time  came  when  he  reached  sixteen, 
and  from  then  on  for  forty-seven  years  he  was  the  ruler 
of  Brazil. 

He  made  a  good  ruler,  too,  for  he  was  just  and  kind,  and 
anxious  to  do  well  for  his  people.  But  he  had  no  son  to 
succeed  him,  so  in  1888  the  Brazilians  concluded  they 
would  change  their  government  and  become  a  republic. 
Dom  Pedro  was  forced  to  resign,  and  a  government  much 
like  ours  was  established. 

It  was  decided  at  this  time  to  keep  the  capital  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro  for  the  present,  although  the  people  are  now  con- 
sidering whether  it  would  not  be  better  to  choose  another 
capital  farther  in  the  interior  of  the  country. 

During  these  different  changes  of  government  Rio  de 
Janeiro  has  been  steadily  growing.  It  has  increased  very 
rapidly  in  population  since 
Brazil  was  declared  a  re- 
public, and  it  is  now  next 
to  Buenos  Aires  the  larg- 
est city  in  South  America. 
It  has  seven  hundred  thou- 
sand people,  and  is  a  great 
commercial  center. 

We  notice  this  as  we 
land  at  the  wharves  among 
steamers  from  all  parts  of 
Europe.  There  are  gangs 
of  laborers,  both  negroes 
and  whites,  busy  loading 
and  unloading  boats. 
Some  of  the  ships  taking 
on  coffee  are  from  Hamburg,  Liverpool,  and  Lisbon,  and 
others  are  loading  for  New  York  and  Baltimore.     Ther^ 


"There  is  coffee  everywhere." 


2']2  BRAZIL. 

are  also  many  steamers  discharging  all  sorts  of  goods  for 
Rio  de  Janeiro  and  the  interior  of  Brazil. 

Over  there  they  are  taking  off  a  cargo  of  jerked  meat 
which  has  come  from  the  beef  factories  of  Uruguay.  The 
meat  is  in  bags,  and  the  men  carry  it  out  on  their  heads. 
Near  by  is  a  sailing  vessel  from  New  York  filled  with  pine 
lumber,  and  next  to  it  a  ship  which  has  thousands  of  boxes 
of  kerosene  made  from  petroleum  which  a  short  time  ago 
was  under  the  ground  in  oar  Pennsylvania  oil  regions. 

Now  we  are  off  the  ship  and  are  pushing  our  way 
through  the  throng  of  workmen  who  are  carrying  the 
goods  to  the  steamers.  Most  of  them  are  negroes,  and 
some  are  half  naked.  Nearly  all  of  them  carry  burdens 
upon  their  heads.  See  those  men  who  are  bringing  in  the 
coffee  bags  from  the  wagons. 

Each  bag  weighs  as  much  as  a  man,  but  they  trot  along 
as  though  they  were  carrying  feathers.  They  are  in  their 
bare  feet,  and  we  hear  the  thud,  thud,  thud,  of  their  foot- 
steps as  they  run  to  the  steamer.  Each  man  is  paid  a 
cent  and  a  half  per  bag,  and  he  is  therefore  anxious  to 
carry  as  many  bags  as  he  can. 

Now  we  have  left  the  wharves  and  have  enterad  the 
great  coffee-exporting  section  of  the  city.  There  is  coffee 
everywhere.  The  streets  are  walled  with  warehouses  in 
which  we  see  coffee  piled  up  by  the  thousands  of  bags, 
and  we  can  hardly  get  along  the  sidewalk  for  the  men 
who  are  unloading  the  wagons.  There  are  scores  of  half- 
naked  men  carrying  the  bags  from  the  carts  to  the  ware- 
houses, and  dozens  of  negro  women  down  on  their  knees 
sweeping  the  stray  coffee  beans  out  of  the  cobblestones 
of  the  street  that  they  may  wash  and  sell  them  again. 
This  building  at  our  right  is  a  coffee  factory,  and  that  hum 
is  the  noise  of  the  machines  which  are  cleaning  the  beans 


RIO    DE   JANEIRO. 


273 


for  the  market.  Next  door  is  the  office  of  one  of  the 
American  exporting  houses,  which  does  nothing  but  ship 
coffee  to  New  York,  and  farther  on  are  the  commission 
houses  which  buy  coffee  to  sell  to  shippers. 

Stop  and  listen  to  those  knots  of  men  on  the  street 
corners.  They  talk  nothing  but  coffee.  The  very  air 
smells  of  coffee,  and  we  realize  that  we  are  in  one  of  the 
great  coffee  ports  of  the  world. 


" They  talk  nothing  but  coffee." 

We  have  already  learned  that  the  coffee  crop  is  the 
most  important  crop  of  Brazil.  The  people  make  more 
money  here  in  coffee  than  in  anything  else,  and  almost 
half  of  the  coffee  raised  is  sent  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  to  be 
shipped.  Here  also  are  the  stores  through  which  the 
coffee  planters  are  supplied  with  goods,  so  that  through 


274  BRAZIL. 

coffee  Rio  de  Janeiro  has  to  a  large  extent  become  what 
it  is. 

After  spending  some  time  in  the  coffee  section  we  take 
carnages  for  our  hotel.  Rio  de  Janeiro  is  too  large  a  city 
to  see  in  a  day.  It  covers  all  together  about  nine  square 
miles,  extending  from  the  harbor  back  to  the  hills.  The 
streets  go  up  hill  and  down.  They  cross  one  another  at 
all  sorts  of  angles,  and  we  are  unable  to  keep  the  points 
of  the  compass  as  we  are  whirled  this  way  and  that  in 
going  to  the  hotel. 


XXXV.     MORE   ABOUT   RIO. 

WE  shall  take  an  interpreter  with  us  this  morning. 
The  Spanish  which  we  have  learned  in  the  South 
American  capitals  will  be  of  little  value  in  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
for  the  people  here  use  Portuguese.  Rio  is  the  largest 
Portuguese-speaking  city  of  the  world.  It  has  more  people 
than  all  the  cities  of  Portugal  combined,  and  the  country 
governed  from  it  has  a  far  greater  population  than  the 
Portuguese-speaking  population  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

We  first  drive  rapidly  over  the  city  to  get  a  general 
idea  of  its  various  features.  It  is  far  different  from  the 
other  cities  which  we  have  visited.  The  streets  are  nar- 
rower, and  the  houses  are  taller  and  of  a  different  shape. 
In  some  streets  they  are  of  three  and  four  stories,  and  in 
the  business  sections  we  find  that  thousands  of  people  live 
above  the  stores,  having  no  yards,  and  taking  their  airing 
on  the  balconies  which  extend  along  the  houses  from  story 
to  story. 

In  the  residence  parts  of  the  city  the  windows  facing  the 


RIO   DE  JANEIRO.  275 

Street  are  usually  open,  and  out  of  nearly  every  window 
women  and  girls  lean  and  stare  at  us  as  we  go  along.  It 
seems  to  us  that  all  the  women  of  the  city  are  at  the  win- 
dows, and  our  guide  tells  us  that  this  is  the  chief  occu- 
pation of  the  feminine  part  of  the  population.  The 
better-class  women  seldom  go  out  except  to  church. 
Their  customs  are  much  the  same  as  those  of  the  women 
of  the  Spanish- American  cities. 

The  guide  tells  us  that  Brazilian  girls  do  not  associate 
with  the  young  men,  and  that  the  girls  of  Rio  are  backward 
and  bashful.  We  ask,  if  this  is  so,  how  it  comes  that  they 
beckon,  by  crooking  their  fingers,  to  friends  in  the  street 
cars  which  are  passing,  and  that  now  and  then  they  make 
motions  to  people  over  the  way.  He  replies  that  these 
motions  are  mere  salutations, — they  mean  '*  Good  day  " 
or  "  Good-by," — and  that  the  girls  are  only  saluting  their 
girl  friends  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  or  those  who 
ride  by  in  the  cars. 

We  visit  the  business  parts  of  the  city.  The  stores  are 
fine,  and  there  are  well-dressed  men  everywhere.  Rio  has 
many  rich  people,  and  the  streets  are  thronged  with  buyers 
and  sellers.  Here  we  are  in  the  Rua  do  Ouvidor  (roo'a 
do  ooVe-dor).  This  is  the  chief  business  street  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro.  It  might  be  called  the  Broadway  of  the  Brazilian 
metropolis. 

What  a  queer  street  it  is!  It  is  not  wider  than  one  of 
our  alleys,  but  It  is  walled  with  bright-colored  three-  and 
four-story  buildings,  which  seem  to  lean  toward  each 
other  as  though  to  shut  out  the  sun.  From  the  first 
stories  flagpoles  extend  out  over  the  street  so  that  they 
almost  meet  in  the  center,  and  between  the  poles  are 
arches  of  iron  gaspipes  connecting  the  buildings  and 
forming  a  canopy,  as  it  were,  over  the  Ouvidor. 


276 


BRAZIL. 


Moving  along  under  this  canopy  of  poles  and  pipes  is 
one  of  the  strangest  crowds  of  the  world.  There  are 
people  of  all  nations  about  us.  We  see  the  faces  of  Ital- 
ians, Portuguese,  Spaniards,  French,  Brazihans,  and  Eng- 
lish.    There  are  natty  politicians  dressed  in  black  with  tall 

hats,  and  there  are  merchants 
in  business  suits.  There  are 
Italian  vegetable  peddlers  with 
baskets  fastened  to  poles  on  their 
shoulders,  and  half-naked  negro 
porters  moving  along  with  loads 
on  their  heads.  There  are  bare- 
headed women  and  smartly 
dressed  boys  moving  to  and  fro, 
forming  all  together  such  a  hu- 
man mixture  as  you  will  see  no- 
where else  on  earth. 

Some  of  the  people  are  shop- 
ping. Others  have  come  to  sell, 
and  many  to  gossip  and  chat  with 
their  friends.  The  Ouvidor  is 
Rio's  great  promenade,  and  many  men  meet  their  friends 
here  instead  of  asking  them  to  come  to  their  houses. 

Now  we  have  left  the  Ouvidor  and  are  passing  through 
the  side  streets.  What  a  lot  of  peddlers  there  are! 
Nearly  all  the  hucksters  of  Rio  carry  their  vegetables, 
fruits,  and  fish  from  house  to  house  on  their  shoulders  or 
upon  their  heads,  instead  of  in  carts  or  on  donkeys.  Here 
comes  a  man  selling  fish.  He  has  his  stock  in  two  baskets 
fastened  to  the  ends  of  a  pole  which  rests  on  his  shoul- 
ders. Behind  him  trots  a  man  loaded  down  with  long 
strings  of  onions.  He  has  stopped  at  that  house  over 
there  and  is  selling  a  string  to  the  cook.      The  stems  of 


Rio  Peddlers. 


RIO   DE  JANEIRO. 


^n 


the  onions  are  so  braided  together  with  straw  that  they  can 
be  sold  by  the  foot  or  yard.  You  may  see  stalls  in  the 
markets  where  only  onions  are  sold. 

But  what  is  that  squawking  and  crowing  we  hear  in  the 
next  block?  It  comes  from  the  wicker  crate  which  that 
old  negro  woman  is  carrying  on  the  top  of  her  head.  It 
contains  three  geese  and  four  chickens.  She  is  a  chicken 
peddler,  and  she  thus  carries  live  fowls  through  the  streets. 

But  here  is  another  queer  character.  I  mean  that  man 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street, who  is  clapping  two  sticks 
together.  See  the  door  opens 
and  a  woman  asks  him  to  enter. 
That  man  is  a  cloth  peddler,  his 
sticks  are  a  part  of  his  yard 
measure,  and  that  clapping  is 
the  sign  of  his  trade.  Many  of 
the  women  do  not  like  to  go  to 
the  stores,  preferring  to  buy 
their  goods  of  peddlers  like 
him. 

And  so  we  go  on  meeting 
one  odd  character  after  an- 
other, now  accosted  by  boys 
selling  papers,  and  now  by 
peddlers  with  candies  and  fruit. 
The  strangest  sights  of  all  are 
the  porters  who  carry  huge  loads  on  their  heads.  There 
goes  one  with  a  box  on  his  crown  which  must  weigh  two 
hundred  pounds.  Behind  him  is  a  group  of  eight  negroes 
who  are  moving  along  with  a  huge  crate  above  them. 
Look  closely  and  you  will  see  inside  the  crate.  It  con- 
tains a  piano,  and  they  are  carrying  it  on  their  heads  from 
one  part  of  the  town  to  another. 


Onion  Stall  in  the  Market. 


27S 


BRAZIL. 


But  let  us  leave  the  business  streets  and  visit  the  parks. 
We  shall  find  them  everywhere  in  and  about  the  city, 
and  shall  know  them  by  the  royal  palm  trees  which  rise 
high  above  the  rest  of  the  vegetation  and  with  quivering 
branches  seem  to  wave  us  an  invitation  to  enter.  We  are 
in  the  tropics,  and  the  plants  which  we  raise  in  our  hot- 
houses are  to  be 
found  here  grow- 
ing wild. 

We  take  a  street 
car  and  ride  for 
seven  miles  along 
the  bay  and  by 
the  residences  of 
rich  Brazilians  to 
the  BotanicalGar- 
den.  This  has 
plants  and  trees 
from  all  parts  of 
Brazil.  It  has 
some  of  the  most 
wonderful  palm 
trees  of  the  world. 
As  we  enter  the 
gate  we  come 
into  an  avenue 
of  royal  palms,  each  of  which  is  as  tall  as  an  eight-story 
house,  although  it  is  not  more  than  a  yard  in  diameter  at 
the  ground.  There  are  more  than  a  hundred  of  these 
magnificent  trees  lining  the  sides  of  the  avenue.  They 
rise  in  symmetrical  shafts  of  silver  gray,  without  a  branch, 
for  almost  one  hundred  feet,  and  then  shoot  out  into  a 
canopy  of  fernhke  green  leaves.     The  avenue  is  not  wider 


**  An  avenue  of  royal  palms." 


RIO    DE   JANEIRO. 


279 


than  an  alley,  and  we  seem  to  be  walking  between  two 
files  of  giant  soldiers,  the  plumes  on  their  hats  quivering 
in  the  breeze  above  us  and  almost  shutting  out  the  blue 
of  the  sky. 

Crossing  this  avenue  at  right  angles  through  the  mid- 
dle of  the  garden  is  another  avenue  of  these  same  palm 
trees,  and  running  from  it  here  and  there  are  gravel  walks 
shaded  by  curious  trees.     We  wander  through  groves  of 


We  wander  through  groves  of  feathery  bamboos 


feathery  bamboos,  stalks  of  green  cane  fifty  feet  long, 
whose  leaves  interlock,  forming  a  dense  shade  from  the 
tropical  sun.  The  bamboo  groves  are  the  favorite  parts 
of  the  garden  for  picnics,  and  we  see  family  parties  sit- 
ting in  them  sipping  their  coffee. 

We  find  here  strange  trees  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Here  is  a  cinnamon  tree,  which  grows  perhaps  best  in  the 
island  of  Ceylon.     It  has  pale-yellow  flowers,  but  its  chief 


28o 


BRAZIL. 


value  is  from  the  bark,  which  we  use  to  flavor  our  pickles, 
and  from  which  also  comes  cinnamon  oil.  That  tree 
farther  on  is  a  clove  tree.  It  is  an  evergreen,  about 
twenty  feet  high,  producing  one  of  the  spices  of  commerce. 
Then  there  are  camphor  trees  and  cork  trees,  and  so  many- 
varieties  of  palms  that  we  cannot  describe  them.  There 
are  all  sorts  of  flowers,  shrubs,  and  bushes.     There  are 


"We  go  over  ravines. 


orchids  of  every  variety,  and  great  trees  covered  with 
blossoms.  There  are  coffee  plants  of  all  sizes,  and  many 
tea  shrubs,  such  as  you  see  on  the  hillsides  of  China  and 
Japan. 

We  might  spend  a  long  time  In  the  Botanical  Garden, 
but  the  hour  for  closing  soon  comes,  and  we  take  the  cars 
again  for  our  hotel.  Later  on  we  make  tours  over  the 
little  railroads  which  run  from  Rio  de  Janeiro  up  into  the 


RIO    DE    JANEIRO.  28l 

mountains.  There  are  a  number  of  such  roads.  Their 
tracks  are  just  like  those  which  take  you  to  the  top  of 
Mount  Washington  and  up  to  Pikes  Peak. 

Each  track  consists  of  two  rails,  with  a  ladderlike  rail  in 
the  center.  Upon  this  central  rail  moves  a  cogwheel  at- 
tached to  the  engine,  whose  other  wheels  rest  on  the  track. 
The  engine  is  behind  instead  of  in  front  of  the  train,  and 
it  puffs  and  puffs  as  it  pushes  us  up  the  mountains  through 
wonders  of  tropical  scenery.  We  go  over  ravines  hundreds 
of  feet  deep,  and  about  mountain  walls  more  than  a  thou- 
sand feet  high.  Now  we  seem  to  cling  to  the  sides  of  the 
rock,  and  again  great  walls  of  rock  hang  over  us,  and  we 
tremble  as  we  think  they  might  fall. 

The  air  here  is  moist,  and  at  times  we  are  riding  through 
clouds.  As  we  go  higher  we  have  magnificent  views  of 
the  city  and  harbor,  and  on  the  top  of  the  Corcovado  we 
stand  upon  a  rocky  peak,  amid  some  of  the  grandest  views 
of  the  world. 

The  great  city  of  Rio  and  its'  beautiful  harbor  is  just 
below  us,  but  so  far  down  that  the  houses  look  no  bigger 
than  dog  kennels  as  they  lie  there  skirting  the  water. 
The  sea  beyond  has  become  a  bed  of  sapphire  under  the 
rays  of  the  sun,  and  upon  it  are  rocky  islands  of  curious 
shapes,  while  all  about  it  rise  mountain  on  mountain  and 
hill  upon  hill. 

See  those  four  huge  ocean  steamers  which  are  sailing  in 
single  file  by  the  sugar  loaf  out  to  the  sea.  They  look 
like  canoes  at  this  distance,  but  they  are  great  ships  loaded 
with  coffee  for  Europe,  New  York,  and  New  Zealand. 
The  last  one  will  pass  down*  through  the  Strait  of  Magel- 
lan, and  will  go  almost  half  around  the  world  before  it 
reaches  its  haven. 

There  are  other  fine  views  on  our  way  to  Petropolis,  a 


282 


BRAZIL. 


beautiful  city  of  twenty- five  thousand  people,  in  the  tops 
of  the  mountains  just  back  of  Rio.  The  region  about  it 
is  so  picturesque  that  it  has  been  called  the  Switzerland  of 
Brazil,  and  we  shall  find  here  the  summer  homes  of  many 
well-to-do  Brazilians. 

It  is  here  that  our  minister  to  Brazil  and  the  other  for- 
eign diplomats  live.      The  city  of  Rio  is  often  unhealthful. 


Petropolis. 


It  has  at  times  an  epidemic  of  yellow  fever,  which  is  so 
bad  for  foreigners  that  of  those  who  take  it  almost  all  die. 
The  air  of  the  seacoast  is  hot  and  stuffy.  We  find  it 
more  bracing  as  the  little  cog  engine  pushes  us  on  up 
the  hills,  and  when  we  land  irt  Petropolis  we  seem  to  be  in 
a  different  world.  We  spend  some  days  in  wandering 
about  through  the  mountains  enjoying  the  scenery,  and 
then  go  back  to  Rio  and  take  ship  for  the  north. 


BAHIA. 


283 


XXXVI.     BAHIA    AND    THE   DIAMOND  MINES. 

WE  are  in  Bahia  to-day.  We  have  sailed  three  days 
north  from  Rio  de  Janeiro  on  our  slow  coasting 
steamer,  and  have  come  to  anchor  in  the  great  Bay  of  San 
Salvador,  under  the  bluffs  on  wnich  most  of  the  city  is 
built.  These  bluffs  rise  almost  straight  up  from  the  water, 
having  only  a  narrow  strip  of  land  between  them  and  the 
sea. 

Upon  this  strip  are  the  great  wholesale  importing  and 
exporting  houses,  and  upon  the  bluff  are  tall,  bright-col- 
ored buildings,  with  feathery  palms  rising  above  them, 
quivering  in  the  breeze.  The  bluff  is  so  abrupt  that  ele- 
vators have  been  built  to  carry  the  people  from  one  part 
of  the  town  to  the  other,  for  it  is  very  difficult  to  climb  the 


Bahia. 


CARP.  S.  AM.  — 1 8 


284 


BRAZIL. 


Steep  roadway  which  goes  up  the  side  of  the  hills.  In  the 
past  sedan  chairs  were  used,  and  those  who  could  afford 
it  were  thus  carried  up  on  the  shoulders  of  men. 

As  we  look  at  Bahia  from  our  ship  it  seems  very  large. 
It  is  the  second  city  in  size  in  Brazil,  and  one  of  great  com- 
mercial importance.      It  is  the  capital  of  the  second  largest 


Street  Scene. 


state  of  the  country,  and  exports  quantities  of  tobacco, 
cotton,  and  hides.  It  is  a  cultured  city,  and  is  noted  for 
its  hospitals  and  schools. 

The  Bay  of  San  Salvador  is  about  as  large  as  that  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro.  There  are  more  than  a  score  of  ocean 
steamers,  numerous  coasting  ships,  and  a  hundred  small 
boats  at  anchor  within  it.  There  are  many  lighters  or 
barges  which  are  used  to  carry  the  goods  between  the 


BAHIA. 


285 


steamers  and  the  shore.  All  the  craft  have  swung  with 
the  tide,  and  their  noses  are  turned  toward  the  city,  so  that 
we  can  easily  imagine  them  a  great  naval  fleet  on  its  way 
to  capture  Bahia. 

Bahia  has  had  its  share  of  invasions.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  towns  of  South  America  historically,  and 
is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  of  Brazil.  It  had  fifteen  thousand 
people  more  than  half  a  century  before  Boston  was  founded, 
and  for  two  hundred  years  thereafter  it  was  the  capital  of 
Brazil.  It  continued  to  be  the  chief  city  until  coffee  be- 
gan to  be  raised  in  great  quantities  farther  south,  when 
Rio  de  Janeiro  surpassed  it. 

The  country  about  Bahia  is  so  rich  and  the  harbor  so 
good  that  for  many  years  some  of  the  other  nations  of 
Europe  coveted  it.     The  Dutch 
took  it  several  times  and  held 
it  for  years,  and  at  one  time  it 
was  besieged  by  the  English. 

It  was  for  many  years  one  of 
the  chief  centers  for  the  slave 
trade  of  Brazil.  It  was  one  of 
the  ports  nearest  Africa,  and  the 
negroes  could  be  kidnaped  and 
carried  across  the  Atlantic  into 
this  bay.  So  many  slaves  were 
brought  that  in  the  year  1800 
more  than  half  the  people  of 
Brazil  were  slaves.  A  great 
many  of  the  slaves  who  were 
brought  to  North  America 
came  to  Bahia  first,  and  indeed 
the  slave  trade  went  on  secretly  long  after  the  rest  of  the 
world  thought  it  was  stoppe'd. 


Policeman. 


286 


BRAZIL. 


This  was  not  a  long  time  ago,  and  as  we  land  upon  the 
wharves  we  notice  that  there  are  far  more  negroes  than 
whites  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city.  Negro  women  sit 
upon  the  streets,  with  piles  of  fruit  about  them ;    negro 

men  are  loading  and  un- 
loading the  steamers, 
carrying  huge  bags  and 
bundles  on  their  heads ; 
and  in  the  narrow  side 
streets  Httle  black  babies, 
as  naked  as  when  they 
were  born,  are  crawling 
over  the  cobblestones. 
There  is  a  boy  of  eight 
who  is  playing  horse. 
He  has  a  little  stick  be- 
tween his  legs,  and  he  is 
going  on  the  gallop,  al- 
though he  has  not  a 
stitch    on    him. 

How  fat 'the  women 
are!  The  negresses  of 
Bahia  are  noted  for  their 
enormous  size.  Many 
of  them  weigh  more  than  two  hundred  pounds,  and  their 
flesh  fairly  shakes  as  they  carry  themselves  over  the  street. 
Each  woman  wears  a  turban  of  white  or  some  gay  color, 
and  her  dress  is  much  like  a  long  white  nightgown  with  a 
deep  lace  edging  at  the  shoulders,  through  the  meshes  of 
which  you  can  see  her  black  skin.  This  lace  is  a  matter 
of  pride  with  these  women.  Each  makes  her  own  lace, 
and  the  gowns  of  many  are  beautifully  worked. 

Some  have  gold  bracelets  on  their  arms  and  gold  chains 


"  Each  woman  wears  a  turban." 


BAHIA. 


287 


about  their  necks,  and  we  learn  that  many  negroes  have 
grown  rich  since  they  became  free. 

We  find,  as  we  continue  our  travels  in  Brazil,  that  the 
black  man  has  here  as  many  rights  as  the  white  man. 
Many  of  the  white  people  have  intermarried  with  the 
negroes,  and  there  are  millions  of  mulattoes  in  Brazil. 
The  races  are  so  intermingled  that  it  is  hard  to  tell  who 
are  pure  whites  c  ^^are  blacks. 


Placer  Mining. 

Some  of  the  negroes  are  very  intelligent.  During  a 
visit  to  Brazil  I  found  that  the  editor  of  one  of  the 
chief  daily  newspapers  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  was  a  negro,  and 
I  was  introduced  to  the  archbishop  of  the  province  of 
Amazonas,  whose  face  was  as  black  as  that  of  any  African 
negro.  There  are  colored  men  and  women  at  almost 
every  hotel  table,  and  in  the  dining  room  of  the  steamers 
there  are  as  many  colored  people  at  the  table  as  whites. 


288 


BRAZIL. 


We  spend  some  time  in  Bahia  visiting  its  cotton  and 
tobacco  factories.  We  see  cartloads  of  hides  and  bales 
of  goatskins  brought  in  from  the  country.  They  are  to 
be  shipped  to  America  to  be  made  into  shoes.  We  are 
told  that  the  state  of  Bahia  is  rich  agriculturally,  and  also 
that  it  has  some  of  the  best  minerals  of  Brazil. 

We  are  not  accustomed  to  think  of  Brazil  as  a  land  of 
minerals.      It  has,  however,  gold,  silver,   iron,  or  coal  in 


"The  mining  is  done  in  a  rude  way.' 


nearly  every  one  of  its  states.  Vast  quantities  of  gold 
have  been  taken  from  Minas-Geraes  (me^nas-zha-ra'es),  a 
state  south  of  Bahia,  and  the  placer  mines  of  Bahia  yield 
large  golden  nuggets.  The  mining  is  done  in  a  rude  way, 
the  men  digging  the  gravel  up  with  hoes,  and  washing  it 
out  in  the  streams  in  bowls  much  like  those  we  use  to 
make  bread. 
"  The   state   of   Bahia  has   the   best   diamond   mines  of 


BAHIA. 


289 


Brazil.  It  had  for  many  years  the  richest  diamond  fields 
of  the  world,  and  it  was  noted  for  its  precious  stones  until 
1867,  when  the  diamond  fields  of  South  Africa  were  dis- 
covered. Since  then  the  best  diamonds  have  come  from 
Africa,  although  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  are  still  annu- 
ally mined  in  Brazil. 

The  best  diamond  mines  are  far  back  of  the  city  of 
Bahia,  in  the  mountains  at  the  head  waters  of  the  river 
Paraguacu.  We  go  to  them  on 
boats  and  on  mules;  we  can 
make  but  few  miles  a  day,  and 
it  takes  a  long  time. 

The  diamonds  are  found  in 
the  gravel  which  lies  upon  a  bed 
of  clay  at  the  bottom  of  the  river. 
The  stream  is  quite  deep,  and 
the  mining  is  usually  done  in 
the  shallower  places  where  there 
are  not  more  than  twenty  feet  of 
water,  and  where,  owing  to  a 
bend  in  the  river,  the  current  is 
not  strong. 

A  long  pole  is  first  driven 
down  into  the  bed  of  the  stream. 
Then  two  miners  in  a  dugout 
canoe  row  out  to  the  pole.  One  man  remains  in  the  boat, 
and  the  other,  who  is  naked,  dives  down  to  the  bottom. 
The  diver  has  a  big  bag  with  him,  the  mouth  of  which  is 
held  open  by  an  iron  hoop.  He  rests  the  hoop  on  the 
river  bed,  and  scrapes  the  gravel  into  the  bag  until  he  has 
filled  it,  when  he  climbs  with  it  up  the  pole  to  the  boat. 
The  divers  often  remain  under  the  water  for  more  than  a 
minute  at  a  time. 


Negro  Woman  ot  Bahia. 


290  BRAZIL. 

The  bag  of  gravel  is  taken  in  the  boat  to  the  shore  and 
emptied  out  upon  the  bank  some  distance  back  from  the 
water,  and  the  men  then  row  back  to  the  pole  for  more. 
This  work  goes  steadily  on  through  the  dry  season,  for  as 
soon  as  the  rains  begin  the  river  gets  so  high  that  it  is  too 
deep  to  mine. 

Then  the  men  stop  and  wash  over  the  gravel,  looking 
carefully  for  diamonds  and  other  valuable  stones  called 
carbons.  Often  many  bushels  of  gravel  must  be  handled 
before  a  diamond  or  a  carbon  is  found. 

The  work  is  often  very  disappointing,  and  it  requires 
great  care  and  patience,  but  sometimes  one  little  stone 
gives  the  miners  a  great  reward  for  a  whole  season's  work. 
When  the  mines  were  at  their  best  only  about  one  dia- 
mond a  week  was  discovered,  but  the  stones  were  so  valu- 
able that  the  few  which  were  found  brought  for  many 
years  almost  a  million  dollars  a  year. 

The  most  of  the  diamonds  now  being  discovered  are 
small.  They  are  shipped  from  the  mines  to  Bahia,  and 
from  there  sent  to  Europe  to  be  cut  into  shape  for  jewelry, 
or  for  use  in  cutting  glass  or  polishing  gems. 

The  carbons  are  really  impure  or  black  diamonds. 
They  are  about  as  hard  as  a  diamond,  but  are  more  porous. 
They  are  used  for  fine  boring  machines  and  for  polishing 
very  hard  substances.  They  are  found  in  all  sizes,  from 
little  ones  as  small  as  a  grain  of  sand  to  some  which  weigh 
hundreds  of  carats.  A  carat  is  a  weight  so  small  that  it 
takes  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  to  make  one  ounce 
troy.  It  is  the  measure  for  diamonds  and  precious  stones, 
and  is  therefore  used  for  carbons.  Not  long  ago  carbons 
were  selling  for  twenty  dollars  a  carat,  or  so  much  that 
one  large  carbon  which  was  recently  found  brought  twenty 
thousand  dollars. 


ALONG   THE   COAST.  29I 


XXXVII.     ALONG     THE    COAST     OF    BRAZIL. 

OUR  travels  of  the  next  few  weeks,  comprised  in  this 
chapter,  are  along  the  coast  of  Brazil.  We  have 
taken  a  little  Brazilian  steamer  at  Bahia  for  Para,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Amazon.  The  distance  looks  quite  short  on 
the  map,  but  it  is  more  than  two  thousand  miles,  and  as 
we  move  slowly  along  from  city  to  city,  stopping  a  day 
at  each  principal  port  to  load  and  unload,  it  takes  several 
weeks. 

We  first  visit  Maceo,  the  capital  of  the  state  of  Algoas. 
This  state  lies  between  the  San  Francisco  river  and  the 
state  of  Pernambuco.  It  is  about  as  large  as  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  is  as  thickly  settled  as  Maine.  The  majority  of 
its  people  are  colored,  and  many  of  them  are  engaged  in 
raising  tobacco  and  cotton. 

Maceo  has  about  twenty-five  thousand  people.  It  is  a 
city  of  one-story  houses,  built  close  to  the  streets  and 
painted  in  the  brightest  of  colors.  Its  houses  are  roofed 
with  red  tiles,  and  some  are  moss-grown  with  age.  At 
the  windows  we  see  girls  and  women  leaning  out,  just 
as  we  did  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and,  save  that  there  are  more 
negroes,  the  people  look  much  the  same. 

Our  next  stop  is  at  Pernambuco,  This  city  is  almost  as 
large  as  Bahia.  It  is  the  capital  of  the  state  of  Pernam- 
buco, which  produces  vast  quantities  of  sugar  and  cotton 
and  the  finest  of  goatskins  and  hides. 

The  proper  name  of  the  city  is  not  Pernambuco,  as  it 
is  often  called,  but  Recife.  The  word  **  Recife  "  means 
reef,  and  this  is  the  city  of  the  reef.  We  see  the  reason 
for  the  name  as  we  enter  the  harbor,  which  is  formed  by 
a  great  tongue  of  rock  which  here  extends  two  or  three 


292  BRAZIL. 

miles  out  into  the  sea,  making  a  tank  or  harbor  not  half 
a  mile  wide,  but  so  deep  that  ocean  steamers  can  come  in 
and  anchor.  The  rock  extends  out  like  a  wall,  and  as  we 
look  at  it  we  can  hardly  imagine  that  it  was  not  all  built 


"The  rock  extends  out  like  a  wall." 

by  man.  It  does  not  rise  very  high  above  the  level  of 
the  ocean,  but  so  high  that  a  low  wall  upon  it  suffices  to 
prevent  the  waves  from  coming  into  the  bay. 

As  we  go  in  there  is  a  heavy  wind  from  the  east,  and 
the  waves  seem  to  gnash  their  teeth  as  they  throw  them- 
selves against  this  stone  wall,  sending  up  masses  of  snow- 
white  foam  in  their  anger.  Our  ship  has  been  rolling 
about  on  the  ocean.  Inside  the  harbor  we  He  perfectly 
quiet,  and  there  is  hardly  a  ripple,  notwithstanding  the 
billows  outside.  It  is  the  first  port  at  which  the  European 
steamers  stop  after  leaving  Lisbon,  and  more  than  one 
thousand  ships  call  here  every  year. 


ALONG  THE   COAST. 


293 


We  are  now  near  a  stone  wharf,  back  of  which  are  many 
great  buildings  filled  with  goods  ready  for  shipment.  A 
short  distance  above  us  are  steamers  taking  on  bales  of 
cotton,  and  beside  us  is  one  unloading  a  cargo  of  dried 
beef  from  Montevideo. 

We  land,  and,  taking  the  street  cars,  are  carried  over  one 
bridge  after  another.  We  go  by  horses  loaded  with  cot- 
ton, carts  pulled  by  oxen  in  shafts,  and  on  into  the  city. 
Pernambuco  has  many  canals,  and  its  bridges  remind  us 
of  Venice.      It   has   many   fine  buildings.      It   has   some 


"The  villages  are  of  thatched  huts.' 


stores  and  houses  whose  walls  are  faced  with  porcelain 
tiles  imported  from  Europe.  Its  people  pride  themselves 
on  their  business  ability,  and  it  has  indeed  a  great  trade. 
At  Parahyba,  still  farther  north,  we  have  a  chance  to 
take  a  railroad  ride  into  the  interior  during  the  waiting  of 
the  steamer.  The  train  takes  us  for  miles  through  groves 
of  cocoanut  palms.     The  vegetation  is  dense,  and  we  see 


294  BRAZIL. 

Strange  birds  and  strange  animals  in  the  trees.  The  par- 
rots screech  at  us,  and  little  monkeys,  or  marmosets,  mon- 
keys so  small  that  you  could  put  them  into  your  pockets, 
scamper  about  through  the  branches. 

The  villages  are  of  thatched  huts  with  walls  of  mud  or 
palm  leaves.  They  have  no  glass  windows,  and  the  doors 
are  of  woven  palm  leaves,  so  light  that  they  can  be  lifted 
away  during  the  day.  Naked  children  play  about  the 
streets,  and  half-naked  black,  brown,  yellow,  and  white 
men  and  women  stare  at  us  as  we  go  through. 


Cotton  Cart. 

Most  of  the  country  is  wild,  and  such  farmmg  as  we  see 
is  done  with  the  ax  and  the  hoe.  The  ax  is  used  to 
cut  down  the  trees  or  bushes,  after  which  the  field  is 
burned  over,  and  the  crops  sown  without  plowing.  In 
raising  corn  the  grains  are  dropped  upon  the  ground  and 
covered.  The  soil  is  so  rich  that  they  quickly  sprout,  and 
after  this  it  is  necessary  only  to  hoe  down  the  weeds  to 
produce  a  crop.  Cotton  is  cultivated  in  much  the  same  way. 
There  is  plenty  of  rain  here,  and  everything  grows  well. 


ALONG   THE    COAST. 


295 


Farther  back  from  the  coast  are  the  highlands  of  Brazil, 
and  a  little  farther  north,  in  the  state  of  Ceara  (sa-a-ra^), 
at  the  port  of  which  we  next  stop,  the  country  is  almost 
all  high.  It  is  a  rolling  country  with  mountain  chains  run- 
ning through  it,  a  part  of  the  Brazilian  highlands  which  is 
often  subject  to  droughts. 

When  there  is  plenty  of  rain  the  crops  are  rich  and 
everything  is  green  and  fresh,  but  during  a  long  dry  spell 
the  land  becomes  as  bare  as  the  Desert  of  Sahara.  Such 
times  do  not  often  occur,  but  when  they  do  many  of  the 
people  starve,  and  in  the  drought  of  1877  and  1878  more 
than  half  of  the  whole  population  died  of  famine. 

The  port  of  Ceara  often  bears  the  name  of  Ceara  on  the 
map.  Its  Brazilian  name  is  Fortaleza.  It  has  one  of  the 
\vorst  landing  places  on  the  east  coast  of  South  America. 
There  is  no  pier,  and  we 
are  carried  from  our  boat 
to  the  shore  in  the  arms 
of  half-naked  men,  who 
charge  us  each  eight  cents 
a  trip.  The  waves  are 
rolling  in  on  the  beach  as 
we  walk  through  them 
suspended  only  a  few 
inches  above  the  water, 
and  we  tremble  at  what 
might  happen  if  our  bear- 
ers should  slip  on  a  stone. 

The  town  of  Fortaleza 
has  about  fifty  thousand 
people.     It  is  a  beautiful 
city,  with  bright-colored  houses,  clean  streets,  and  well- 
dressed  people.    We  visit  the  market  to  learn  what  is  raised 


Here  comes  a  water  peddler." 


296 


BRAZIL. 


in  the  country.     We  then  take  donkeys  and  ride  through 
the  city,  and  have  time  for  a  jaunt  in  the  suburbs. 

The  street  scenes  are  interesting,  and  every  turn  brings 
a  new  picture.  We  pass  everywhere  men  and  women 
carrying  all  sorts  of  things   on  their  heads.     There  is  a 


Street  Scene, 

barefooted  negress  walking  briskly  along  with  a  pumpkin 
balanced  on  the.  top  of  her  head,  and  behind  comes  a  boy 
carrying  a  two-bushel  bag  of  flour  in  the  same  way.  See, 
he  has  stopped  there  at  that  fence,  and  without  lowering 
or  touching  his  burden  has  lifted  up  his  leg  to  the  first 
board,  and  is  industriously  searching  for  something  that  is 
biting  him. 

Here  comes  a  water  peddler.  He  is  driving  a  donkey, 
to  the  sides  of  which  are  slung  four  five-gallon  casks. 
Behind  him  is  a  man  with  two  horses,  each  of  which  carries 
a  load  of  wood.     The  wood  is  fastened  to  the  sides  of  the 


ALONG   THE    COAST. 


297 


horses  by  wooden  hooks  made  of  forked  limbs  tied  on  like 
a  pack  saddle. 

Do  you  see  that  cow  over  there  with  the  milkman  be- 
side her,  on  his  knees,  squeezing  the  milk  into  a  bucket? 
The  calf  stands  behind ;  it  is  tied  to  its  mother's  tail  with  a 
rope.  The  calf  has  a  muzzle  upon  it  to  keep  it  from  feed- 
ing, and  it  thus  goes  along,  tantalized  by  smelling  and  see- 


In  the  Country. 

ing  the  food  which  it  cannot  get  at.  That  man  is  a  milk 
peddler.  He  drives  the  cow  from  house  to  house  and 
milks  her  to  order.  You  would  think  that  this  would  pre- 
vent his  watering  the  milk.  It  does  as  a  rule,  but  some 
milkmen,  it  is  said,  have  water  bags  concealed  in  their 
shirts,  with  a  pipe  running  down  the  sleeve  to  their  hands, 
so  that  they  can  squeeze  water  in  along  with  the  milk. 

Now  we  have  left  the  city  and  are  out  in  the  country. 
We  ride  by  banana  fields,  orange  trees,  and  palm  groves. 


298 


BRAZIL. 


There  is  one  palm  tree  which  grows  wild  in  this  region 
which  produces  more  things,  perhaps,  than  any  other  tree 
in  the  world.  This  is  the  carnauba  palm.  Its  trunk  is 
used  for  rafters  and  building  material,  and  from  its  roots 
is  made  a  medicine  like  sarsaparilla.  The  small  trees  are 
used  as  vegetables,  and  from  them  wine  and  vinegar  are 

made,  as  well  as  a  starch  like  sago, 
and  a  kind  of  sugar.  Its  fruit  is  a 
good  food  for  cattle,  the  pulp  hav- 
ing an  agreeable  taste,  and  the  nut 
is  sometimes  used  as  a  substitute 
for  coffee.  The  pith  of  this  tree  is 
as  light  as  cork,  and  of  the  wood 
of  the  stem  musical  instruments 
are  sometimes  made. 

When  tapped  the  tree  gives  forth 
a  white  liquid  much  like  the  milk 
of  a  cocoanut,  and  of  the  strawlike 
bark,  which  grows  on  its  trunk, 
hats,  brooms,  and  baskets  are  made. 
The  straw  is  also  used  for  thatch- 
ing houses.  From  the  leaves  a 
wax  is  obtained  which  is  manufactured  into  candles,  and 
which  is  extensively  used  in  the  states  of  northern  Brazil. 
Ceara  produces  as  much  as  two  million  pounds  of  this  wax 
in  a  year. 

Another  thing  for  which  Ceara  is  noted  is  its  parrots. 
They  are  said  to  be  among  the  best  talking  birds  of  the 
world.  They  are  of  a  beautiful  green-and-blue  color,  with 
a  bit  of  red  on  the  wings  and  neck,  but  are  smaller  than 
most  other  parrots.  We  are  met  in  the  markets  by  men 
carrying  parrots,  and  they  follow  us  down  to  our  boat  and 
beseech  us  to  buy.     We  find  we  can  get  good  ones  for 


Parrot  Peddler. 


VALLEY   OF  THE   AMAZON.  399 

about  two  dollars  apiece,  but  alas!  they  speak  Portuguese, 
and  before  we  can  enjoy  them  they  will  have  to  be  taught 
a  new  language.  We  take  a  number  with  us  on  the 
steamer,  however,  and  amuse  ourselves  during  the  rest  of 
our  journey  in  giving  the  parrots  lessons  in  elocution. 

The  weather  grows  warmer  as  we  move  farther  north, 
stopping  at  one  port  after  another.  We  sail  along  for 
almost  a  day  only  a  little  south  of  the  equator,  and  anchor 
at  last  at  the  city  of  Para,  in  one  of  the  mouths  of  the 
Amazon. 


XXXVIII.     THE    VALLEY    OF    THE    AMAZON, 
OR   THE    KING    OF    RIVERS. 

BEFORE  we  begin  our  travels  up  the  Amazon  let  us 
consider  the  wonderful  region  into  which  we  are 
going.  The  Amazon  is  the  king  of  rivers,  and  it  flows 
through  the  greatest  river  valley  of  the  world.  It  is 
indeed  more  like  an  inclined  plane  than  a  valley.  Its 
width  is  about  as  great  as  the  distance  from  New  York  to 
Salt  Lake  City.  The  hills  slope  down  to  it  gradually  on 
the  north  and  south. 

At  its  back  are  the  great  Andes,  and  from  the  foot  of 
these  it  slopes  downward  toward  the  sea  so  gradually  that 
in  this  long  distance  of  about  two  thousand  miles,  or 
greater  than  the  distance  from  New  York  to  Denver,  the 
fall  is  only  two  hundred  feet.  This  is  so  little  that,  if  the 
Amazon  valley  were  free  from  trees  and  you  and  I  were 
riding  over  it  in  a  wagon,  it  would  appear  to  be  a  level 
plain.    The  fall  is  only  a  little  more  than  an  inch  to  a  mile. 

The  fall  is  so  gentle  that  you  would  hardly  think  the 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 19 


300 


BRAZIL. 


water  would  flow  at  all ;  but  it  does  flow,  and  it  goes  in 
such  a  mighty  volume  that  it  carries  with  it  vast  quanti- 
ties of  the  earth  washings  of  the  mountains.  It  would 
take  millions  of  horses,  working  day  and  night,  to  haul 
down  the  mud  which  it  is  carrying  into  the  Atlantic. 

There  is  so  much  of  this  mud  that  for  a  day  before  we 
got  to  Para  we  were  sailing  through  yellow  water.     In- 


A  Home 


\ma20n. 


deed,  it  is  said  that  the  waters  of  the  ocean  are  stained  by 
the  mud  five  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth,  and  bits  of 
tree  trunks  and  vegetation  from  the  Andes  have  been  seen 
floating  four  hundred  miles  out  in  the  ocean,  having  trav- 
eled almost  as  far  from  their  homes  in  the  mountains  as  the 
distance  across  our  continent. 

Is  not  this  a  wonderful  river?     How  does  it  happen  that 
it  comes  to  be  just  where  it  is  ?     What  can  be  the  cause 


VALLEY    OF   THE   AMAZON.  3OI 

of  such  a  great  volume  of  water,  which  can  thus  keep  on 
flowing  day  and  night,  year  in  and  year  out,  from  one  life- 
time to  another? 

Let  us  see  first  how  the  Amazon  valley  was  formed. 
Many  geologists  believe  that  there  was  here  a  great  sea 
or  strait  joining  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans.  South 
America  then  consisted  of  two  great  divisions.  On  the 
north  were  the  highlands  of  Guiana,  Venezuela,  and  Co- 
lombia, and  on  the  south  were  the  highlands  of  Brazil  and 
the  remainder  of  South  America,  and  between  them  the 
waters.  Then  there  was  a  great  upheaval  of  the  earth  at 
the  westward.  The  Andes  were  thrown  up  out  of  the 
depths,  and  the  basin  of  the  strait  was  so  raised  that  the 
waters  flowed  down  into  the  Atlantic,  and  the  Amazon 
valley  was  formed. 

So  the  salt  waters  were  taken  away.  Now  let  us  see 
whence  this  perpetual  flow  of  fresh  water  comes.  It 
is  brought  here  by  the  trade  winds,  which  fill  them- 
selves full  of  water  as  they  cross  the  Atlantic.  They  are 
loaded  when  they  reach  the  coast  of  Brazil,  and  they 
sweep  up  the  wide  trough  of  the  Amazon  valley,  drop- 
ping their  rain  as  they  rise  and  cool  in  their  journey  to 
the  mountains.  They  drop  more  and  more  as  they  go  to 
the  westward,  and  the  water  falling  over  this  vast  surface 
is  carried  by  countless  streams  into  the  trough  known  as 
the  Amazon  river.  So  much  water  falls  that  the  Amazon 
valley  is  perhaps  the  rainiest  region  of  the  world.  There 
is  so  much  rain,  indeed,  that  if  the  mouth  of  the  river 
could  be  dammed  up  by  a  great  dike  a  vast  sea  would 
soon  be  formed. 

It  is  estimated  that  so  much  rain  falls  that  if  it  did  not 
flow  off,  and  remained  where  it  fell,  the  vast  valley  would 
be  so  covered  with  water  in  a  single  year  that  the  tallest 


302 


BRAZIL. 


man  could  drown  anywhere  in  it.  The  average  rainfall  is 
seventy-two  inches  per  annum,  and  where  we  are  now 
enough  rain  falls  every  year  to  cover  the  ground  with 
water  to  the  depth  of  a  fifteen-story  house. 


Exploring  the  Amazon. 

As  we  stand  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer  we  notice  that 
the  air  is  full  of  moisture.  Para  has  a  heavy  rain  almost 
every  afternoon,  and  its  people  make  their  appointments  to 
call  after  the  daily  shower.  We  shall  find  the  air  moist 
all  the  way  up  to  the  Andes,  and  we  must  take  out  our 
knives,  cameras,  and  .guns  every  day  or  so  and  clean  them. 
The  air  is  so  wet  that  anything  steel  will  rust  in  your 
pockets,  and  a  gun  loaded  overnight  will  be  so  damp  that 
it  will  not  go  off  in  the  morning.     We  must  not  be  sur- 


VALLEY   OF  THE   AMAZON.  303 

prised  to  find  little  moldy  spots  on  our  black  shoes  when 
we  get  up,  and  such  of  us  as  are  carrying  photographic 
materials  had  better  seal  them  up  in  tins,  for  the  dampness 
will  spoil  them. 

We  are,  fortunately,  on  the  Amazon  when  the  water  is 
low.  The  great  riVer  for  almost  two  thousand  miles  from 
the  sea  is  now  only  from  two  to  five  miles  in  width.  Dur- 
ing the  rainy  seasons  of  November  and  February  it  rises 
and  slowly  climbs  up  to  from  thirty  to  fifty  feet  above  its 
present  level.  At  such  times  it  floods  much  of  this  low 
valley,  and  thousands  of  square  miles  are  for  months  cov- 
ered with  water.  The  river  then  flows  in  and  out  among 
the  tops  of  the  trees,  and  the  valley  for  a  thousand  miles 
back  from  the  Atlantic  is  a  great  inland  sea  from  fifteen  to 
one  hundred  miles  wide.  In  the  dry  times  you  may  see 
vast  stretches  of  meadows  which  are  made  by  such  floods, 
where  the  water  lies  for  months  upon  the  land,  so  long  that 
the  trees  will  not  grow  upon  it.  The  result  is  the  pasture 
fields  of  the  Amazon,  which  at  times  of  flood  are  vast  lakes. 

The  most  of  the  valley,  however,  is  a  forest,  in  which 
there  are  no  paths,  and  through  which  we  can  go  only 
upon  the  streams  in  canoes  or  boats.  There  are  so  many 
streams,  however,  that  the  most  of  the  forest  can  be 
reached  by  water.  The  Amazon  in  its  long  course  receives 
more  than  one  hundred  rivers,  into  which  flow  a  myriad 
of  brooks.  Of  its  rivers  eight  are  said  each  to  have  a 
navigable  length  of  more  than  one  thousand  miles.  Up 
these  rivers  you  can  go  on  the  north  until  you  are  very 
close  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Orinoco — so  close  that  you 
could  carry  your  boat  and  go  down  in  it  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  On  the  south  you  could  sail  up  the.  Tapajos  so 
far  that,  with  a  very  short  trip,  you  could  drag  your  canoe 
into  the  tributaries  of  the  Paraguay  and  Parana. 


304 


BRAZIL. 


The  Amazon  system  is  unquestionably  the  greatest 
upon  the  globe,  and  the  river  itself  will  surprise  us  more 
as  we  travel  upon  it.  We  shall  go  in  a  big  ocean  steamer 
to   Manaos   (ma-na'os),  on  the   Rio   Negro,  and   we  may 


An  Amazon  Alligator. 


there  take  smaller  steamers  which  will  carry  us  on  the 
Amazon  to  Iquitos,  Peru,  more  than  twenty-three  hundred 
miles  from  the  Atlantic. 

If  the  Hudson  river,  which  empties  into  the  Atlantic  at 
New  York,  were  a  great  stream  flowing  through  our  con- 
tinent from  the  west,  so  that  we  could  enter  it  and  sail 
clear  across  the  land  to  Salt  Lake  City  on  a  steamer,  we 
should  have  about  the  same  condition  of  transportation  as 
prevails  on  the  Amazon.  We  might  indeed  almost  cross 
the  continejit  by  water,  for  the  Pacific  is  not  very  many 
miles  from  Iquitos.  We  could  hire  mules  there  and  thus 
make  our  way  over  the  Andes  to  the  coast. 


PARA.  305 


XXXIX.     PARA,    THE    METROPOLIS    OF   THE 
AMAZON. 

BEFORE  we  start  on  our  tour  up  the  Amazon  we 
must  explore  the  city  of  Para.  It  Hes  in  front  of  us, 
back  of  the  masts  of  those  saiHng  vessels  and  steamers 
lining  the  shore.  There  is  a  row  of  tall  palms  between  it 
and  the  river.  They  rise  high  above  that  line  of  white 
and  bright-colored  houses,  and  their  quivering  branches 
are  swaying  in  the  wind  from  the  sea. 

The  city  seems  small,  but  the  land  is  so  low  that  we  can 
see  but  little  of  it  from  the  steamer.  It  runs  far  back  from 
the  water.  It  is  as  large  as  Indianapolis,  and  has  a  vast 
trade  with  all  parts  of  the  Amazon  valley.  The  ships 
among  which  we  are  moving  have  come  from  far  up  the 
river.  There  is  a  side-wheel  steamer  which  has  a  load  of 
manioc  and  cacao  from  the  Madeira.  It  has  brought  it 
more  than  a  thousand  miles  to  Para.  That  ship  beside  it, 
with  the  canvas  over  its  deck,  under  which  are  numerous 
hammocks  in  which  people  are  lying,  is  about  to  start  up 
the  Tocantins  river,  and  that  boat  filled  with  rubber  has 
been  floated  down  from  the  wilds  of  Bolivia. 

See  that  steamer  over  there  with  the  English  flag  flying 
from  its  mast.  It  is  loaded  for  Liverpool.  The  great 
vessel  beside  it,  with  the  dense  smoke  pouring  from  its 
funnel,  is  a  Portuguese  ship  starting  out  for  Lisbon,  and 
farther  over  you  may  see  a  big  cargo  steamer  just  in  from 
New  York.  It  has  brought  down  kerosene,  hardware, 
pine  lumber,  and  codfish  to  be  sold  in  Para,  and  it  will  carry 
back  great  boxes  of  rubber  to  be  used  in  our  factories. 

What  a  busy  stream  it  is  through  which  we  move  as  we 


3o6 


BRAZIL. 


go  to  the  wharf!  We  pass  hundreds  of  sailboats  filled 
with  vegetables  and  fruit,  and  countless  dugouts  being 
paddled  swiftly  along  toward  the  shore.  Now  we  are  at 
the  landing,  and  the  cargadores  begin  to  load  and  unload 
the  steamer.     They  work  in  their  bare  feet,  carrying  the 


Wharves  at  Para. 

goods  in  and  out  of  the  ship  on  their  heads.  Their  faces 
are  of  all  shades  of  white,  brown,  and  black.  Among 
them  are  negroes  from  Jamaica,  and  Spaniards,  Portu- 
guese, and  mulattoes  from  all  parts  of  Brazil. 

We  push  our  way  through  them  and  walk  on  into  the 
business  sections  of  Para.  The  buildings  are  of  three  or 
four  stories.  They  are  built  close  to  the  sidewalks  along 
narrow  streets,  and  their  walls  are  of  all  colors,  some 
being  faced  with  blue,  yellow,  and  green  porcelain  tiles. 

How  big  the  shops  are!      They  have  large  stocks  of 


PARA. 


307 


goods,  some  piled  upon  the  pavements  outside  the  store- 
rooms. That  block  over  there  is  chiefly  filled  with  dry- 
goods  establishments.  See  the  bright-colored  calicoes 
and  white  cottons  which  hang  on  the  walls  outside  the 
shops,  and  among  them  the  numerous  hammocks.  The 
hammocks  are  of  all  grades  and  all  prices.      Some  are  a 


How  big  the  shops  are !' 


lacework  of  fine  threads,  and  others  are  mere  strips  of  can- 
vas. Hammocks  are  the  beds  of  the  Amazon  valley,  and 
we  must  buy  some  before  we  go  up  the  river. 

We  shall  need  them  to  sit  in  by  day,  and  in  many 
places  they  will  serve  us  as  our  beds  at  night.  There 
are  places  on  the  boats  in  which  hammocks  can  be  swung, 
and  in  our  camps  in  the  woods  the  branches  of  the  trees 


3o8 


BRAZIL. 


will  serve  for  support.  We  are  now  in  the  tropics,  and 
shall  find  hammocks  much  cooler  than  beds.  They  are 
also  much  safer,  for  the  bugs,  ants,  and  snakes  cannot 
crawl  into  them  so  easily  as  they  could  into  a  bed. 

We  take  the  street  cars  and  ride  through  one  business 
block  after  another,  realizing  as  we  do  so  the  immense 
trade  of  Para.  We  go  by  beautiful  parks,  filled  with 
palms  and  other  tropical  trees,  and  on  into  streets  well 
shaded,  past  the  homes  of  the  rich  Paranese.     The  houses 


Along  the  River,  Para. 


here  are  fine.  The  windows  are  filled  with  women  and 
girls  looking  out.  Some  sit  and  lean  on  the  sills,  and 
others,  beautifully  dressed  in  silk  gowns,  hold  in  their  arms 
naked  babies.  Soon  we  reach  the  edge  of  the  city  and 
come  to  the  dense  forest  out  of  which  Para  has  been  cut. 


PARA. 


309 


We  walk  a  few  blocks,  and  return  to  the  wharf  through 
a  different  section  of  the  city.  We  stop  at  that  part  of  the 
river  where  fruits,  vegetables,  and  merchandise  are  brought 
from  the  neighboring  islands  in  small  boats.  The  scene 
here  is  a  bright  one.  There  are  scores  of  gayly  dressed 
negro  women  peddling  all  sorts  of  things.  There  are 
women  and  men  trotting  along  with  great  burdens  on 
their  heads,  and  people  of  all  classes  buying  and  selling 
fish,  fruit,  and  vegetables,  and  some  queer  merchandise. 


Banana  Market. 


See  that  great  pile  of  baskets  which  has  just  been 
brought  in  from  the  boats.  They  look  like  round  peaph 
baskets  and  are  lined  and  covered  with  green  palm  leaves. 
A  crowd  has  gathered  about  them,  and  the  people  are 
buying  them  and  carrying  them  off  on  their  heads.  What 
can  they  be  ?     Let  us  open  a  basket  and  see.     We  lift  up 


3IO 


BRAZIL. 


the  palm  leaves  and  find  that  it  is  filled  with  coarse  meal ; 
it  is  white,  and  it  looks  much  hke  ground  popcorn.  We 
taste  it.     It  makes  us  think   of   sawdust.     It   is   manioc 

flour,  an  article  which  forms 
the  food  of  the  people  of 
a  great  part  of  Brazil.  It 
is  very  nutritious.  Indeed, 
we  consume  great  quantities 
of  manioc  ourselves,  for  it  is 
from  it  that  the  tapioca  which  we 
use  in  soups  and  puddings  is  made. 
From  the  wharves  we  go  to  the 
markets.  The  fruits  remind  us  of 
Ecuador,  and  show  us  that  we  are 
again  in  the  lands  of  the  equator. 
We  buy  delicious  pineapples  and 
cocoanuts  for  a  few  cents  apiece, 
and  the  bananas  and  oranges 
|i(?"^  are  so  ripe  that  they  almost 
melt  in  our  mouths.  There 
are  quantities  of  black  tobacco 
in  long  twists,  some  as  big 
around  as  a  baseball  bat;  and 
peddlers  bring  us  parrots  and  monkeys  and  ask  us  to  buy. 
In  the  market  we  see  many  vultures.  They  sit  on  the 
roofs  about  the  court,  ready  to  swoop  down  "and  eat  up  the 
scraps  of  meat  thrown  away  by  the  butchers.  Vultures 
are  the  scavengers  of  the  Amazon,  and  are  never  killed 
by  the  people.  They  are  quite  tame,  and  if  they  were 
not  so  disgusting  we  might  easily  catch  them  and.  pet 
them. 

But  what  is  that  on  the  head  of  the  man  who  is  going 
out  of  the  door  of  the  market  house  ?     It  is  as  big  around 


"  We  see  many  vultures. 


PARA.  311 

as  a  washtub  and  about  a  foot  thick.  See,  it  is  alive !  It 
is  a  turtle  which  is  lying  upon  its  back;  it  is  poking  its 
head  in  and  out  of  its  shell  as  the  man  carries  it  off.  That 
is  one  of  the  big  turtles  of  the  Amazon.  They  are  found 
near  Para,  and  exist  in  large  quantities  in  most  parts  of  the 


"  See,  it  is  alive!" 

Amazon  basin.  They  have  their  breeding  places,  where 
they  go  in  countless  numbers  at  certain  times  of  the  year. 
They  dig  holes  in  the  sand  and  lay  their  eggs  there.  The 
eggs  are  about  as  big  as  hens'  eggs,  and  have  a  leathery 
skin  instead  of  a  shell.  Each  turtle  lays  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  eggs,  and  milHons  upon  millions  are 
deposited  in  these  laying  places. 

The  people  learn  where  they  are.  They  go  to  them  in 
crowds  and  dig  up  the  eggs,  and  use  them  to  make  turtle 
oil  or  turtle  butter.  The  yolks  of  the  eggs  contain  much 
oil.  The  egg  hunters  fill  their  canoes  with  the  eggs  and 
then  pound  them  to  a  jelly  with  sticks,  or  tread  them  into 


312 


BRAZIL. 


a  mush  with  their 
feet.  After  this  some 
water  is  .poured  into 
the  mixture,  and  it  is 
allowed  to  stand  in 
the  sun.  In  a  short 
time  the  oil  rises  to 
the  surface.  It  is 
skimmed  off  and  fur- 
ther purified  by  being 
boiled  in  copper  ket- 
tles. It  is  used  large- 
ly for  burning  and 
sometimes  for  cook- 
ing. 

While  hunting  the 
eggs  many  little  tur- 
tles are  caught.  These 
are  esteemed  great  delicacies.     They  are  sold  by  dozens 
in  strings.      We  see  many  in   the  markets,  and  find  that 
they  are  delicious  when  roasted. 


Street  in  Para. 


3>«4c 


XL.     IN    THE    LAND    OF    RUBBER. 


OUR  travels  during  the  next  few  days  shall  be  devoted 
to  the  rubber  industry  of  the  Amazon  valley.  Para 
is  the  chief  rubber  port  of  the  world,  and  in  its  warehouses 
we  can  see  how  rubber  is  packed  for  the  markets.  There 
are  many  rubber  trees  in  the  forests  which  grow  on  the 
islands  near  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon.     These  islands  we 


RUBBER.  313 

can  reach  by  a  steam  launch,  and  we  have  arranged  to 
visit  a  rubber  plantation. 

But  first  let  me  tell  you  a  little  about  this  wonderful 
product.  Rubber  has  now  become  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant materials  used  by  man.  A  century  ago  it  was  not 
known  as  being  of  value  except  for  rubbing  out  pencil 
marks.  Now  it  is  used  in  many  kinds  of  machinery.  It 
keeps  us  dry  in  wet  weather,  and  in  the  cities  even  the 
horses  have  rubber  coats.  We  ride  over  the  streets  on 
rubber  tires.  We  wade  through  the  wet  in  rubber  boots, 
and  race  horses  are  shod  with  rubber  shoes.  During  one 
year  the  pubHc  school  children  of  New  York  used  more 
than  five  tons  of  rubber  ink  erasers,  and  rubber  bands  are 
consumed  by  the  million  in  our  large  business  cities.  There 
are  indeed  so  many  uses  for  rubber  that  we  cannot  enu- 
merate them ;  so  many  that  rubber  grows  more  and  more 
costly  every  year,  and  the  business  of  gathering  it  in- 
creases. 

The  best  rubber,  and  indeed  the  most  of  the  good  rub- 
ber, comes  from  the  Amazon  valley.  It  is  made  from  the 
sap  of  the  Siphonia  elastica,  a  forest  tree  which  grows  wild 
in  this  region.  It  is  found  scattered  over  a  district  as 
large  as  all  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  westward  to 
the  wilds  of  Peru,  and  on  the  south  running  far  down  into 
Bolivia  and  Matto  Grosso,  Brazil. 

The  rubber  tree  flourishes  best  In  land  which  is  flooded 
during  part  of  the  year.  Ground  which  is  always  above 
water,  or  which  has  not  good  drainage,  will  not  do  for  it. 
The  very  best  conditions  for  the  growth  of  such  trees  exist 
south  of  the  Amazon,  and  also  upon  the  islands  and  low- 
lands not  far  from  its  mouth. 

The  trees  from  which  the  rubber  now  comes  are  not 


314  BRAZIL. 

cultivated.  They  might  be  and  probably  will  be  raised  on 
plantations  when  the  wild  trees  are  worn  out  and  the  de- 
mand for  rubber  increases.  Each  rubber  tree  bears  many 
seeds.  Its  fruit  is  like  a  horse-chestnut,  three  seeds  being 
found  in  each  shell.  When  it  is  ripe  the  shell  bursts  with 
a  noise  Hke  a  firecracker  and  throws  the  nuts  to  some  dis- 
tance. There  are  so  many  nuts  on  each  tree  that  it  is  said 
a  man  could  easily  gather  enough  in  a  day  to  plant  a  hun- 
dred acres  of  land.  The  seeds  after  planting  grow  rapidly. 
They  must  have  plenty  of  moisture  and  heat,  but  must  be 
shaded  from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  After  a  time  they 
can  be  transplanted,  and  if  set  out  in  the  right  soil  they 
will  thrive  without  cultivation. 

It  takes  from  fifteen  to  twenty  years,  however,  before 
the  trees  will  produce  enough  rubber  sap  to  pay  the  pro- 
prietor, and  this  is  so  long  that  at  present  the  people  pre- 
fer to  hunt  for  and  tap  the  wild  trees.  There  are  thousands 
of  men  doing  this  in  the  different  parts  of  the  Amazon 
valley.  In  some  places  Indians  are  employed  to  gather 
the  rubber,  and  there  are  rubber  camps  thousands  of  miles 
inland  from  where  we  now  are.  Indeed,  some  of  the 
rubber  which  is  shipped  from  Para  has  to  travel  as  far  in 
getting  to  that  port  as  it  does  in  going  from  Para  to  New 
York. 

Our  steam  launch  leaves  Para  in  the  evening,  and  we 
spend  all  night  upon  the  Amazon.  How  bright  the  stars 
are,  and  how  the  moon  shines  here  in  the  soft  air  of  the 
tropics!  Our  hammocks  are  slung  from  the  roof  of  the 
boat,  and  the  warm  wind  from  the  ocean  fans  us  to  sleep. 
We  ride  all  night  through  one  narrow  channel  after  an- 
other, and  when  we  awake  we  are  at  the  house  of  a  rub- 
ber planter.  A  little  wharf  made  of  wood  extends  from 
his  front  door  out  into  the  river,  and  as  we  step  out  of  the 


RUBBER.  315 

boat  we  are  within  a  few  yards  of  the  house.  It  is  a  low, 
one-story  building,  roofed  with  red  tiles,  with  a  wide 
veranda  about  it.  At  one  end  is  a  storeroom  filled  with 
the  groceries  and  dry  goods  which  the  planter  sells  to 
his  rubber  gatherers,  and  on  the  veranda  itself  are  piles 
of  what  look  like  smoked  hams,  but  which  are  really  lumps 
of  rubber  ready  to  be  shipped  to  market.  The  planter 
gives  us  a  breakfast  of  coffee  and  rolls,  and  later  we  walk 
with  him  through  the  dense  forest,  winding  our  way  this 
way  and  that  from  one  rubber  tree  to  another. 

How  interesting  it  is,  and  how  different  from  what  we 
imagined!  We  have  heard  of  rubber  groves  and  rubber 
forests.  There  is  no  such  thing  in  nature.  The  trees  are 
widely  scattered.  They  are  so  far  apart  that  each  man 
has  to  walk  several  miles  in  gathering  his  sap  for  the  day. 
Each  man  has  his  own  trees  to  attend  to,  ranging  from 
sixty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  trees,  according  to  the  dis- 
tance between  them,  and  this  number  is  called  a  path  or 
road.  The  size  of  a  rubber  plantation  is  estimated  by  the 
number  of  paths  or  roads  it  contains.  The  roads  are  mere 
footpaths  which  lead  through  the  forest  from  one  rubber 
tree  to  another. 

We  are  winding  our  way  along  such  a  path  now.  Let 
us  stop  at  one  of  the  trees  and  look  at  it.  It  is  different 
from  the  other  trees  about  it,  but  it  is  not  at  all  like  the 
rubber  trees  or  plants  which  we  have  in  our  hothouses. 
They  are  lean  plants  with  enormous,  thick  leaves  of  smooth, 
polished  green. 

That  rubber  tree  there  has  a  trunk  as  big  around  as 
your  waist.  It  is  a  great  forest  tree,  and  its  leaves  are  some- 
what like  those  of  the  EngHsh  ash.  Look  up  and  see  how 
smooth  the  bark  is.  It  is  of  a  whitish  gray,  and  at  a  dis- 
tance of  twelve  feet  above  the  ground  it  shines  almost  like 
CARP.  s.  AM. — 20 


3i6 


BRAZIL. 


i'^^^^lm' 


silver.     Farther  down  it  is  scarred,  black,  and  warty,  with 
streaks  of  yellow  matter  here  and  there  in  the  bark,  as 

if  melted  beeswax 
had  been  poured 
upon  it.  Take  out 
your  knife  and  dig 
up  a  bit  of  the  wax, 
so  you  can  catch 
hold  of  it.  Now 
pull  at  it.  You  can 
stretch  it  from  six 
inches  to  a  foot  from 
the  tree  before  it 
comes  off.  That  is 
coarse  rubber,  the 
remains  of  the  sap 
which  has  dried  on 
the  tree.  It  will  all 
be  pulled  out  and 
saved,  although  it 
will  be  sold  at  a 
much  lower  price 
than  the  better  vari- 
eties which  we  shall 
see  made  later  on. 
But  here  comes  the  rubber  gatherer  to  tap  the  tree  for 
the  day.  He  has  a  little  tomahawk,  or  hatchet,  the  blade 
of  which  is  just  about  an  inch  wide,  and  a  lot  of  tin  cups 
of  the  size  of  an  egg  cup.  With  the  hatchet  he  makes  a 
gash  in  the  bark,  just  deep  enough  to  go  through  without 
cutting  the  wood.  As  he  pulls  back  the  hatchet  a  white 
fluid  begins  to  ooze  out.  It  is  just  like  milk,  and  makes 
us  think  of  the  juice  of  the  milkweed.     The  fluid  comes 


r  vt4i3 


Tapping  a  Rubber  Tree. 


RUBBER. 


317 


out  In  great  drops,  and  the  man  takes  one  of  the  little  tin 
cups  and  fastens  it  into  the  tree  just  under  the  wound,  so 
that  the  milk  drops  down  into  the  cup.  He  now  makes 
two  or  three  other  gashes  in  the  tree,  fitting  each  gash 
with  its  cup,  and  then  goes  on  to  the  next.  He  continues 
his  work  until  every  tree  in  his  path  has  been  tapped. 


Collecting  Rubber  Sap. 


The  proprietor  shows  us  how  slowly  the  sap  runs.  He 
tells  us  that  only  a  few  tablespoonfuls  can  be  gathered 
from  each  wound  in  a  day.  The  sap  flows  best  in  the 
morning,  and  it  is  along  about  noon  that  the  rubber  man 
comes  back  to  empty  the  milk  out  into  a  gourd  or  bucket. 
The  amount  collected  varies  according  to  the  richness  of 
the  trees,  but  if  a  man  can  gather  two  quarts  of  milk  in 
one  day  from  his  path  he  thinks  he  has  done  very  well. 


3i8 


BRAZIL. 


The  next  process  is  turning  the  milky  sap  into  the 
rubber  of  commerce.  This  is  very  important.  The  sap 
coagulates,  or  becomes  hard,  upon  exposure  to  the  air, 
and  if  it  is  not  properly  treated  it  turns  to  coarse  rub- 
ber and  must  be  sold  for  low  prices.  The  fine  rubber  is 
cured  by  smoking,  and  the  best  rubber  comes  from  the 
sap  which  is  smoked  a  few  hours  after  it  is  gathered. 
Our  planter  makes   very   fine    rubber,  and   his   men   are 

required  to  cure  their 
rubber  sap  as  soon 
as  they  return  from 
the  forest. 

There  goes  a  man 
now  with  a  bucket 
containing  two  quarts 
of  sap  which  he  has 
just  brought  from  the 
trees.  Let  us  follow 
him  and  see  the  pro- 
cess of  curing.  We 
go  with  him  to  an 
open  shed,  and  watch 
him  pour  the  sap 
into  a  great  bowl  as 
large  as  those  we  use 
in  mixing  bread.  See 
how  white  the  sap 
is!  It  looks  just  Hke 
milk.   It  tastes  sweet, 


Smoking  the  Sap. 


and  is  so  thin  that  you  could  easily  drink  it. 

Now  the  man  stoops  down  and  builds  a  fire  of  palm 
nuts  in  one  corner  of  the  hut  under  a  clay  chimney  rai.sed 
a  little  from  the  floo'*.     The  chimney  is  so  small  that  its 


RUBBER. 


319 


top  does  not  reach  so  high  as  our  waists.  See  how  the 
nuts  burn,  and  watch  that  dense  smoke  which  pours  out 
through  the  chimney. 

Notice  the  man.  He  has  taken  a  long  paddle  and 
thrust  the  end  of  it  into  the  milk.  It  comes  out  as  white 
as  snow.  The  milk  has  stuck  to  the  paddle.  The  man 
now  thrusts  the  end  of  the  paddle  into  the  smoke,  twisting 
it  rapidly  about  as  he  does  so,  so  that  no  drop  of  the 
precious  sap  may  fall  into  the  fire. 


Rubber  Gatherers. 

As  the  smoke  touches  it  the  rubber  thickens  and  har- 
dens ;  its  white  becomes  streaked  with  brown  by  the  smoke. 
It  has  soon  coated  the  paddle  like  varnish.  Now  the  man 
thrusts  the  paddle  again  into  the  milk  bowl.  When  he 
brings  it  out  there  is  a  fresh  coat  of  rubber  sap  on  it  ready 
for  smoking.  This  is  hardened  in  the  same  way,  and  the 
man  so  continues  until  he  has  built  up  about  the  end  of 


320  BRAZIL. 

the  paddle  a  mass  of  rubber  as  large  as  a  six-pound 
ham.  Now  he  takes  a  knife  and  makes  a  cut  in  one  side. 
He  pulls  off  the  rubber  and  carries  it  to  the  house,  where 
it  is  piled  up  with  other  lumps  for  shipment  to  Para,  and 
thence  to  factories  all  over  the  world. 

After  dinner  the  planter  tells  us  that  he  will  return  to 
Para  with  us  if  we  will  allow  him  to  tie  his  boat  to  our 
launch.  We  gladly  consent,  and  our  little  steamboat 
takes  not  only  the  boat,  but  a  big  shipment  of  rubber. 
The  rubber  hams  are  carried  by  men  down  the  wharf  and 
piled  up  in  the  boat.  There  are  hundreds  of  them,  and 
the  boatload  represents  a  vast  deal  of  money. 

Good  rubber  is  worth  so  much  that  a  lump  as  big  as  a 
baseball  will  sell  for  a  dollar.  The  rubber  has  to  be  care- 
fully handled.  When  one  of  the  hams  falls  on  the  wharf 
it  bounces  high  up  into  the  air  and  rolls  about  so  that  we 
laugh  when  we  see  the  men  trying  to  catch  it  again. 

At  Para  our  load  of  rubber  is  put  into  carts  and  carried 
to  one  of  the  great  warehouses  for  shipment.  The  buyers 
look  each  piece  carefully  over.  They  cut  it  in  two  to  see 
that  the  rubber  is  pure  all  the  way  through.  They  weigh 
it  and  pack  it  up  in  great  pine  boxes,  each  of  which  holds 
between  three  and  four  hundred  pounds.  In  such  boxes 
it  is  shipped  to  the  United  States  and  to  Europe. 


5j«i< 


XLI.     A    TRIP    ON    THE    AMAZON. 

OUR  next  trip  is  to  be  up  the  Amazon.  We  shall 
travel  several  weeks  on  the  river,  but  we  might  spend 
years  and  not  see  all  of  its  wonders.  Lying  in  our  ham- 
mocks on  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  we  float  for  miles  out 


TRIP   ON   THE    AMAZON.  32 1 

and  in  between  walls  of  forest  trees  a  hundred  feet  high. 
Now  we  are  close  to  one  bank  of  the  river,  and  now  we 
have  crossed  and  are  traveling  near  the  dense  vegetation 
of  the  opposite  side.  At  times  we  go  for  miles  in  mid- 
stream, where  the  river  is  so  wide  that  the  forests  make  two 
faint  lines  of  blue  on  the  right  and  left.  Now  we  are 
steaming  out  and  in  between  islands  so  close  to  the  land 
that  we  can  see  into  the  huts  of  the  rubber  gatherers  and 
others  who  have  made  their  rude  homes  on  the  banks  of 
the  river. 

We  are  passing  one  on  the  right.  It  is  not  more  than 
fifteen  feet- square.  It  is  a  rude  hut  thatched  with  palm 
leaves,  with  holes  in  the  walls  for  windows.  There  is  a  shed 
at  one  side,  and  in  this  there  are  two  hammocks,  in  each  of 
which  a  woman  is  lying.  We  see  other  huts  farther  on. 
Each  hut  has  its  boats  tied  to  the  shore.  The  owners  rush 
to  the  banks  and  pull  up  the  boats  at  the  approach  of  the 
steamer.  Sometimes  they  jump  into  them  and  row  out 
from  the  land  to  prevent  the  waves  made  by  the  ship  from 
overturning  their  boats  or  filling  them  with  water. 

The  most  of  the  boats  are  dugouts,  although  at  the 
larger  houses  there  are  rowboats,  some  of  which  are 
painted  in  bright  colors.  It  is  only  by  boats  that  the 
people  can  go  from  one  place  to  another.  There  are  no 
roads  through  the  dense  forests  of  the  Amazon.  Each 
hut  has  a  little  clearing  about  it,  but  there  are  few  open 
spaces  which  are  more  than  an  acre  in  size,  except  farther 
up  where  the  cacao  trees  have  been  planted,  and  in  the 
pastures  made  by  the  floods  of  which  we  have  already 
learned. 

We  have  often  heard  of  the  tropical  forest.  We  find  it 
interesting,  but  far  different  from  what  we  supposed.  It 
is  not  a  great  mass  of  palm  trees.     Most  of  it  is  made 


322  BRAZIL. 

Up  of  giant  forest  trees,  not  unlike  some  we  have  in  the 
temperate  zone,  and  as  we  steam  up  the  river  a  mile  or  so 
from  the  shore,  it  looks  just  like  our  forests  at  home.  As 
we  get  closer,  however,  we  see  here  and  there  the  broad 
leaves  of  the  palms  shining  against  the  lighter  green  of 
other  trees. 

There  are  hundreds  of  feathery  creepers,  air  plants, 
which  hang  like  strands  of  green  silk  down  from  the 
branches  of  these  great  forest  giants.  There  is  a  dead 
limb  clothed  with  orchids.  Farther  over  a  great  round 
mass  of  blue  flowers  rises  out  of  the  green.  That  is  a  tree 
in  blossom,  and  if  you  look  to  the  right  you  may  see  other 
vast  bunches  of  white,  yellow,  and  purple,  the  flowers  of 
other  forest  trees  which  grow  only  along  the  Amazon. 
There  are  trees  here,  as  tall  as  the  tallest  trees  of  our  for- 
ests, each  of  whose  tops  forms  a  bouquet  of  violet  blue 
as  big  as  a  haystack.  They  rise,  surrounded  by  green,  a 
hundred  feet  above  us.  There  are  stacks  of  buttercups 
away  up  in  the  air,  and  we  now  and  then  see  trees  loaded 
with  flowers  much  like  tiger  lilies,  only  they  have  a  tinge 
of  red  mixed  with  their  yellow  and  black,  which  makes 
them  more  beautiful. 

Close  to  the  shore  in  many  places  the  trees  rise  like  a 
wall  up  from  the  water.  Many  of  them  are  a  hundred 
feet  high,  and  the  creepers  and  vines  which  crawl  up  their 
trunks  and  wind  this  way  and  that  in  a  tangled  mass  are 
so  thick  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  cut  your  way 
through  them.  The  bark  of  most  of  the  trees  is  of  a 
whitish  gray.  Some  of  the  trunks  are  so  twisted  and 
ribbed  that  they  look  like  mighty  cables  of  white  taffy 
which  have  been  braided  together  to  support  the  vast 
mass  of  foliage  above  them. 

One  of  the  noblest  trees  of  all  rises  high  above  the 


TRIP    ON    THE    AMAZON. 


323 


others.  This  is  the  tree  which  produces  the  Brazil  nut. 
It  grows  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  with 
magnificent  foHage  of  large  dark-green  leaves.  Its  fruit 
is  of  the  shape  of  our  black  walnut,  save  that  it  is  larger 
around  than  the  largest  baseball.  It  has  an  outer  skin  like 
a  walnut,  with  a  similar  hard  shell  within,  and  inside  the 
hard  shell  are  the  long,  three-cornered  Brazil  nuts  which 
are  sold  in  the  stores.     There  are  often  twenty  nuts  in  one 


On  the  Rio  Negro. 


shell.  The  nuts  are  gathered  and  carried  in  boats  to  Para, 
where  the  shells  are  broken  and  the  Brazil  nuts  of  com- 
merce taken  out.  The  nuts  are  quite  heavy,  and  we  trem- 
ble when  we  get  off  now  and  then  at  a  landing  and  walk 
under  the  trees,  for  fear  some  may  drop  on  our  heads.  We 
hear  monkeys  chattering  in  the  branches,  and  fear  that 
they  may  throw  the  nuts  at  us  from  the  tops  of  the  trees. 


324  BRAZILo 

We  see  also  the  trees  that  produce  the  sapucai'a  nut. 
This  is  almost  as  big  as  a  football.  It  is  of  the  shape  of 
an  urn  with  a  nicely  fitting  lid.  When  it  is  ripe  the  lid 
falls  off  and  the  nuts  within  drop  out. 

The  channel  of  the  Amazon  is  very  wide  for  a  long  dis- 
tance from  its  mouth.  At  the  town  of  Obidos  (o-beMos), 
five  hundred  miles  from  the  Atlantic,  it  narrows,  and  its 
immense  volume  pours  through  a  channel  about  a  mile 
wide.  The  current  here  is  so  strong  that  our  steamer 
does  not  rely  on  its  anchor  alone,  but  has  also  a  cable  by 
which  it  is  tied  to  a  tree  on  the  bank.  We  wait  for  some 
hours,  and  during  the  stay  are  taken  in  canoes  to  the 
,  shore.  The  town  is  a  collection  of  rude  houses  built  along 
three  or  four  narrow  streets. 

Obidos  has  a  factory  for  making  chocolate,  and  we  learn 
that  there  are  many  cacao  plantations  near  by.  We  see 
more  cacao  trees  as  we  sail  on  our  way  up  the  river. 
The  orchards  line  the  south  bank  of  the  Amazon  for  miles. 

The  cacao  trees  are  about  twenty  feet  high.  They 
branch  up  in  sprouts  from  the  bottom.  Some  of  them  are 
loaded  with  what  look  like  small  melons  or  squashes. 
This  is  the  cacao  fruit,  inside  of  which  are  the  seeds  which 
form  the  cacao  bean  of  commerce.  They  are  just  like  the 
beans  which  we  saw  in  Ecuador  and  Colombia,  and  the 
trees  are  just  the  same.  The  cacao  of  the  Amazon  is  said 
to  make  excellent  chocolate.  About  half  a  million  dollars' 
worth  of  it  is  shipped  from  Para  every  year,  and  the  prod 
uct  all  told  amounts  to  thousands  of  tons. 

We  pass  the  mouth  of  the  Madeira  some  distance  above 
Obidos,  and  soon  after  this  come  to  a  place  where  the 
waters  of  the  Amazon  and  the  Rio  Negro  meet.  Those 
of  the  Rio  Negro  are  as  black  as  ink,  and  those  of  the 
Amazon  as  yellow  as  mud. 


TRIP    ON    THE    AMAZON.  325 

The  Rio  Negro  keeps  its  color  for  a  long  distance  after 
it  reaches  the  Amazon  before  it  is  swallowed  up  by  that 
great  yellow  monster.  We  ride  along  in  our  steamer  on 
the  line  where  the  two  colors  join,  seeing  black  on  one 


Indians,  Northern  Brazil. 

side  of  the  ship  and  yellow  on  the  other,  but  soon  turn  to 
the  right  and  sail  for  an  hour  up  the  wide  Rio  Negro,  when 
we  reach  the  city  of  Manaos,  the  metropolis  of  northern 
Brazil. 

Manaos  lies  on  the  river  bank  high  above  the  water,  its 
wide  streets  lined  with  palm  trees,  and  its  bright  houses 
shining  out  under  the  tropical  sun.  It  is  a  large  city  for 
this  part  of  the  world.  It  has  about  half  as  many  people 
as  Para,  and,  as  the  center  of  the  interior  trade  of  the 
Amazon  valley,  it  must  continue  to  grow. 

We  are  surprised  to  find  good  houses  and  modern  im- 
provements here  in  the  heart  of  the  continent.     Manaos 


326 


BRAZIL. 


has  electric  street  cars,  electric  lights,  and  good  schools. 
It  has  one  of  the  finest  theaters  of  Brazil,  a  great  market, 
a  museum,  and  some  very  large  stores.  To  it  come 
steamers  from  all  parts  of  the  Amazon  valley,  and  the 
river  is  so  deep  to  this  point  that  the  largest  ocean  steam- 
ers go  from  Manaos  to  New  York  and  Europe. 

The  rubber  gatherers  bring  quantities  of  rubber  to 
Manaos  frorh  the  vast  regions  west  and  south  of  it,  and 
they  come  by  the  hundreds  here  for  their  supplies,  often 


Wharves,  Manaos. 


trading  rubber  for  goods.  It  is  from  here  that  expeditions 
start  out  to  explore  the  unknown  wilds  of  the  Amazon 
and  its  tributaries,  and  we  can  find  here  boats  and  men 
who  will  go  with  us  to  almost  any  part  of  this  unknown 
region. 

We  could  take  a  steamer  and  sail  more  than  thirteen 


ON  THE   ORINOCO.  327 

hundred  miles  farther  west  into  Peru,  and  there  find  a 
trail  which  would  bring  us  over  the  Andes  to  the  west 
coast,  or  we  might  go  by  another  steamer  down  the 
Madeira,  and  by  walking  about  its  great  falls  reach  the 
Beni  and  travel  to  a  point  from  where  we  could  easily  get 
back  to  La  Paz,  Bolivia,  or  Lake  Titicaca. 

We  decide,  however,  to  continue  our  journey  up  the 
Rio  Negro.  We  ride  for  days  through  its  black,  muddy 
waters,  winding  in  and  out  through  the  dense  forests,  until 
we  come  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cassiquiari  (ka-se-ke-a're) 
river,  a  stream  which  unites  the  Orinoco  with  the  Amazon 
system.  We  move  northward  on  the  Cassiquiari,  and  are 
soon  floating  down  the  Orinoco  on  our  way  to  the  At- 
lantic. 


XLH.  ON  THE  ORINOCO  AND  THE 
LLANOS. 

IS  not  this  a  wonderful  river  system  by  which  we  can 
come  from  the  Amazon  into  the  Orinoco  without 
traveling  upon  land  ?  We  have  seen  how  close  the  head 
waters  of  the  Paraguay  river  are  to  the  southern  tribu- 
taries of  the  Amazon.  Indeed,  with  a  short  canal,  we 
might  start  from  the  Atlantic  into  the  mouth  of  the  Ori- 
noco, and  go  on  the  water  clear  through  interior  South 
America,  coming  out  again  into  the  Atlantic  through  the 
Rio  de.la  Plata.  We  saw  something  of  this  as  we  came 
up  the  Amazon,  but  if  you  will  take  your  map  you  will  see 
how  easily  it  could  be  done. 

First  trace  your  way  from  the  Orinoco  into  the  Cassi- 
quiari, then  go  over  the  route  we  have  just  come  down  to 


328  VENEZUELA. 

the  mouth  of  the  Tapajos,  and  sail  up  this  to  its  source. 
You  are  now  so  near  the  beginnings  of  the  Parana  system 
that  in  a  day  you  could  walk  to  some  of  them,  and  you 
would  have  then  but  to  float  with  the  current  down  the 
route  up  which  we  came  in  visiting  Matto  Grosso,  Brazil. 

We  are  now  on  the  Orinoco.  Its  thick  yellow  waters 
are  loaded  with  sediment.  They  are  rushing  in  a  swift 
current  down  to  the  Atlantic.  They  have  been  gathered 
from  the  mountains  far  to  the  westward.  They  have  been 
poured  in  through  countless  branches  from  the  llanos,  or 
vast  meadows,  and  other  parts  of  the  basin,  a  territory 
one  seventh  as  large  as  the  whole  United  States. 

The  Orinoco  is  indeed  a  wonderful  river.  It  is  the 
third  largest  river  on  the  South  American  continent, 
being  surpassed  only  by  the  Amazon  and  the  La  Plata. 
It  is  almost  fifteen  hundred  miles  long,  and  its  main  stream 
is  navigable  for  twelve  hundred  miles.  It  has  four  hun- 
dred navigable  branches,  and  it  so  drains  this  vast  region 
that  there  are  few  places  in  its  basin  where  you  cannot 
reach  navigable  water  by  a  mule  ride  of  a  few  days. 

Now  we  have  left  our  small  boats  and  are  again  on  a  large 
steamer.  We  are  traveling  through  a  country  far  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  Amazon.  The  dense  forest  has  dis- 
appeared, and  a  vast  expanse  of  plain  stretches  away  on 
both  sides  of  the  river.  The  plains  are  covered  with 
coarse  grass,  the  most  of  which  is  now  luxuriantly  green. 
Here  and  there  it  is  gray,  and  we  sometimes  pass  a  tract 
which  has  been  blackened  by  fire. 

See  that  smoke  away  off  to  the  right,  and  the  flames 
rolling  up  from  the  ground.  That  is  one  of  the  prairie 
fires  of  the  llanos  of  central  Venezuela.  It  has  been 
started  by  the  farmers.  They  are  burning  off  the  dead 
grass  that  the  green  sprouts  may  more  quickly  come  up. 


ON  THE   ORINOCO. 


329 


What  a  lot  of  cattle  there  are  on  the  plains!  We  see 
herds  of  thousands,  and  we  learn  that  cattle  raising  is  one 
of  the  great  industries  of  this  country.  More  and  more 
cattle  are  being  raised  every  year,  and  Venezuela  now 
has  several  million  beeves  feeding  upon  its  great  plains. 
The  beasts  are  grown  for  their  meat  and  their  skins.    The 


Indian  Village. 

skins  are  salted  and  dried,  and  are  shipped  by  the  thou- 
sands to  the  United  States  and  Europe,  where  they  are 
tanned  and  made  into  shoes  and  other  such  things. 

The  meat  is  stripped  off  in  sheets  from  the  bones ;  it  is 
salted  and  made  into  jerked  beef,  which  is  so  much  desired 
by  the  people  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  America.  It  is 
taken  on  the  steamers  down  the  Orinoco,  and  has  a  ready 
sale  in  the  various  islands  of  the  West  Indies. 


330 


VENEZUELA. 


But  what  is  that  town  we  see  away  off  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river?  There  are  blue-and -white  buildir-gs 
with  red  roofs  rising  in  terraces  upon  the  low  hills.  There 
are  steamers  at  anchor  at  the  wharf,  and  the  place  seems 
quite  a  city.  It  is  the  first  evidence  of  civilization  we 
have  seen  since  we  left  Manaos  some  weeks  ago.  That 
is  the  chief  city  of  interior  Venezuela,  the  metropolis  of 


Group  of  Natives. 


the  llanos.  Its  name  is  Ciudad  Bolivar  (se-ii-dad'  bo-le'- 
var).  It  has  perhaps  ten  thousand  people,  and  it  forms 
the  center  of  trade  for  a  vast  region.  From  it  go  the 
chief  exports  of  cattle,  and  it  is  also  the  poirxt  from  which 
expeditions  start  out  for  the  gold  mines  farther  south. 

Now  we  are  in  fi-ont  of  the  town.     We  have  landed  and 
are  walking   up  steep,  narrow  streets  paved  with  rough 


ON    THE    ORINOCO. 


331 


cobbles.  The  houses  are  almost  all  of  one  story.  They 
are  built  about  courts,  and  they  seem  like  those  of  the 
Spanish  towns  we  saw  in  our  tour  along  the  west  coast. 
There  is  plenty  of  grass  in  the  streets,  and  we  look  about 
in  vain  for  a  carriage.  There  are  no  wheeled  vehicles  to 
speak  of.  We  shall  have  to  use  horses  in  making  our  trips 
into  the  country.      Every  well-to-do  family  on  the  llanos 


"Things  are  carried  about  upon  donkeys." 

has  plenty  of  horses.  The  stock  is  especially  fine. 
The  horses  are  of  Moorish  breed.  They  have  a  gait  like 
a  pace,  which  carries  you  along  so  gently  that  you  feel 
you  might  be  riding  on  the  rocking-horse  used  by  your 
baby  brother.  y 

There  are  few  carts  anywhere  in  Venezuela.    Things  are 
carried  about  upon  donkeys.     There  comes  one  now  with 
CARP.  s.  AM. — 21 


332 


VENEZUELA. 


two  huge  baskets  filled  with  vegetables  slung  to  his  sides. 
Behind  him  is  another  carrying  boxes  of  bread,  and  we 
see  others  loaded  with  all  sorts  of  things,  including  wood, 
bricks,  and  stone,  which  they  are  patiently  bearing  to 
different  parts  of  the  city. 

We  see  many  donkeys  which  have  come  in  from  the 
country  when  we  visit  the  market.       They  have  neither 


La  Guaira. 

bridles  nor  halters,-and  they  stand  blinking  their  eyes,  pa- 
tiently waiting  for  their  masters  to  drive  them  back  home. 
Some  are  hobbled  by  ropes  tied  about  their  front  legs, 
and  not  a  few  are  moving  along  by  lifting  their  two  front 
feet  at  one  time,  to  get  the  vegetables  and  scraps  which 
have  dropped  from  the  loads  of  other  beasts  going  by. 
We  find  in  the  market  many  interesting  things.     There 


ON    THE    ORINOCO.  333 

are  all  sorts  of  vegetables  and  tropical  fruits.  There  are 
quantities  of  plantains  and  bananas,  which,  we  learn,  form 
a  large  part  of  the  food  of  the  people.  There  is  plenty  of 
beef,  and  maniac  flour  such  as  we  saw  on  the  Amazon. 

There  are  red  clay  bowls  sold  for  cooking,  and  many 
grass  hammocks.  Hammocks  are  used  as  beds  by  nine 
tenths  of  the  people,  and  they  form  for  almost  all  the  loaf- 
ing and  sitting  places  during  the  day.  We  frequently 
sleep  in  hammocks  during  our  visits  to  the  large  farmers 
near  Ciudad  Bolivar. 

Even  the  wealthiest  people  have  country  houses  built 
of  poles  and  mud,  which  are  rude  in  the  extreme.  They 
have  large  verandas  about  them,  and  in  this  warm  region 
the  veranda  is  the  pleasantest  part  of  the  house.  We 
spend  hours  upon  it  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  it 
is  there  that  we  often  come  to  sleep  for  the  night,  prefer- 
ring its  cool  air  to  the  heat  of  our  bedrooms. 

There  are  steamers  every  few  days  from  Ciudad  Boli- 
var down  the  Orinoco.  They  sail  out  through  the  delta, 
and  go  on  to  Trinidad,  one  of  the  West  India  Islands, 
from  where  you  can  get  ships  for  La  Guaira  and  other 
coast  cities  of  Venezuela. 

It  is  upon  one  of  these  steamers  that  we  sail  down  the 
river.  Our  boat  is  a  great  side-wheel  steamer  with  two 
decks,  much  like  the  boats  on  the  Hudson.  It  has  an 
American  captain,  but  the  passengers,  with  the  exception 
of  ourselves,  are  all  Venezuelans.  Some  of  them  are  white, 
others  are  of  the  mixed  race  formed  by  the  union  of  the 
Spaniards  and  Indians,  and  others  seem  to  have  negro 
blood  in  their  veins.  We  have  a  few  native  Indians  among 
the  deck  passengers,  and  there  are  a  number  of  priests, 
dressed  in  the  big  hats  and  long  gowns  of  their  class.  We 
have  many  women  and  children,  who  have  with  them  such 


334  VENEZUELA. 

a  lot  of  cats,  dogs,  monkeys,  parrots,  and  other  birds,  that 
the  scene  on  the  deck  makes  us  think  of  a  httle  zoological 
garden. 

We  steam  for  two  days  before  we  come  to  the  delta. 
The  river  is  wide,  and  there  are  numerous  islands.  There 
are  few  villages  and  not  many  people.  The  water  of  the 
river  is  so  thick  that  we  seem  almost  to  see  it  drop  mud 
as  it  flows.  From  it  has  been  built  up  the  great  delta 
through  which  we  pass  out  on  our  way  to  the  sea. 

The  delta  of  the  Orinoco  is  about  as  large  as  the  State 
of  New  Jersey.  It  has  flowing  through  it  many  deep 
channels,  which  are  lined  with  a  tropical  jungle.  There 
are  mango  trees  and  palms,  bananas  and  wild  forest  trees, 
bound  together  with  long  creepers,  or  lianas,  much  like 
those  we  saw  on  the  Amazon. 

We  see  Indian  huts  and  clearings  which  have  here  and 
there  been  made  in  the  jungle.  The  huts  are  made  of 
poles  and  palm  leaves,  and  the  people  within  them  lie  in 
their  hammocks  or  stand  outside  and  gaze  at  us  as  the 
steamer  goes  by.  The  men  and  boys  have  only  a  rag 
about  the  waist,  and  the  little  children  are  naked.  The 
women  wear  short  petticoats  made  of  the  fibrous  bark  of 
the  palm  tree.  All  seem  lazy  and  worthless,  and  we  learn 
that  they  hunt  and  fish  only  enough  to  keep  them  alive. 


3>»<< 


XLIII.     VENEZUELA    AND    ITS    CAPITAL. 

SHORTLY  after  leaving  the  delta  of  the  Orinoco  we 
reach  the  island  of  Trinidad,  where  we  stay  but  a  few 
hours,  and  then  take  ship  for  the  ports  of  Venezuela.  We 
travel  from  one  place  to  another,  making  excursions  back 


CARACAS.  335 

into  the  country,  visiting  all  the  large  cities,  and  spending 
some  weeks  in  Caracas  the  capital. 

Venezuela  is  a  very  large  country.  We  see  that  it  has 
vast  tracts  of  rich  land,  and  realize  that  it  is  one  of  the 
best  of  the  South  American  republics.  Its  territory  is  so 
large  that  if  it  could  be  transported  to  the  United  States 
it  would  cover  all  Colorado,  Texas,  Idaho,  and  California. 
It  is  greater  in  extent  than  Germany  and  France  combined, 
and  large  parts  of  it  have  excellent  soil.  We  have  already 
seen  the  rich  pastures  of  the  south. 

There  are  few  countries  of  the  world  which  are  so  well 
watered.  We  know  something  of  the  Orinoco  system. 
Venezuela  has  many  other  navigable  rivers.  It  has,  all 
told,  more  than  one  thousand  streams.  Upon  its  coast 
there  are  thirty-two  harbors  and  numerous  bays.  The 
largest  bay  is  Lake  Maracaibo,  the  area  of  which  is  about 
the  size  of  our  Great  Salt  Lake. 

It  was  from  Lake  Maracaibo  that  Venezuela  got  its 
name.  When  the  Spaniards  discovered  the  country,  about 
eight  years  after  Columbus  first  came  to  America,  they 
entered  this  bay.  On  some  of  its  shores  and  islands  they 
found  a-  tribe  of  natives  living  in  huts,  made  of  palm  leaves 
and  rushes,  built  upon  piles  which  they  had  driven  down 
into  the  sand.  Their  huts  were  surrounded  on  all  sides 
by  water,  and  they  went  from  one  place  to  another  in 
canoes.  This  reminded  the  Spaniards  of  Venice.  So  they 
called  the  country  Venezuela,  a  word  which  means  "  Lit- 
tle Venice,"  and  by  this  name  it  has  gone  ever  since. 
There  is  a  similar  town  on  Maracaibo  to-day.  The  Indians 
inhabiting  it  live  by  fishing.  They  are  quite  savage,  and 
although  they  speak  Spanish,  they  have  not  united  with 
the  whites,  as  have  many  other  tribes  of  the  country. 

Venezuela  is  also  a  land  of  mountains.     Branches  of  the 


336  VENEZUELA. 

Andes  extend  out  into  It,  and  we  find  the  capital  situated 
a  little  back  from  the  seacoast  in  a  nest  in  the  mountains. 
Many  of  the  mountains  contain  deposits  of  gold  and  other 
valuable  minerals.  There  are  rich  gold  mines  south  of  the 
Orinoco,  and  among  them  one  which  has  produced  more 
than  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  gold  in  a  year.  It  is  said 
to  be  the  second  richest  gold  mine  of  the  world. 

The  chief  wealth,  however,  of  Venezuela  is  in  its  soil. 
We  have  already  seen  the  great  pastures,  the  llanos  of  the 
Orinoco  basin.  There  are  in  the  north  and  northwest 
vast  tracts  of  rich  land,  which  produces  great  quantities 
of  fine  tobacco,  cotton,  and  coffee. 

The  cofTee  plantations  are  especially  interesting.  The 
climate  here  is  warmer  than  in  the  coffee  lands  of  southern 
Brazil,  and  we  find  that  the  trees  are  raised  differently. 
The  most  of  the  fields  are  irrigated.  The  coffee  trees  are 
shaded  to  protect  them  from  the  sun.  The  young  sprouts 
are  set  out  among  banana  plants.  The  bananas  shoot  up 
quickly,  and  their  wide  green  leaves  ward  off  the  rays  of 
the  sun  from  the  tender  coffee  trees,  and  keep  the  soil 
moist.  Later,  bucuara  trees  are  planted.  These  trees 
grow  rapidly,  and  soon  extend  high  above  the  coffee 
plants,  sending  out  branches  like  those  of  the  sycamore, 
and  furnishing  just  the  right  shade.  The  coffee  produced 
in  Venezuela  is  of  a  very  good  quality.  It  is  much  like 
mocha  coffee,  and  much  of  it  is  sold  as  mocha  in  our 
market. 

Along  the  coast  of  Venezuela  we  see  many  cacao 
orchards,  and  learn  that  they  produce  very  fine  chocolate. 
The  trees  are  carefully  cultivated,  the  orchards  being  laid 
out  much  the  same  as  our  peach  orchards,  save  that  the 
trees  are  protected  from  the  sun  in  the  same  way  as  the 
coffee  trees  are.     The  orchards  are  also  irrigated.     The 


CARACAS. 


337 


weeds  are  kept  down,  and  the  fruit  is  more  carefully  cared 
for  than  that  of  the  orchards  we  saw  on  the  Amazon. 
The  result  is  that  the  trees  produce  large  quantities  of 
fruit,  six  or  seven  hundred  pounds  of  chocolate  seeds  be- 
ing grown  in  a  year  on  one  acre.  Many  orchards  produce 
two  crops  a  year. 

After  the  seeds  are  taken  out  of  the  pulp  and  dried 
they  are  carried  to  the  seaports  and  thence  shipped  to  the 


Banana  Plantation. 


markets.  The  most  of  the  product  goes  to  Spain,  France, 
and  Germany,  but  some  is  sent  to  the  United  States.  The 
cacao  seeds  are  bought  by  the  fanega,  a  measure  holding 
about  a  bushel  and  a  half.  As  much  as  twenty  million 
pounds  have  been  exported  in  one  year,  and  for  this  the 
people  have  received  about  two  million  dollars. 


338 


VENEZUELA. 


Caracas  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  South 
American  capitals.  It  is  the  chief  city  of  Venezuela,  and 
although  its  population  is  less  than  one  hundred  thousand, 
it  is  about  three  times  as  large  as  any  other  town  in  Vene- 
zuela. 

Caracas  is  situated  in  a  little  basin  on  the  southern  slope 
of  the  mountains,  only  six  miles  in  a  straight  line  back 


Statue  of  Washington. 


from  the  coast.  Still,  it  is  more  than  half  a  mile  high  up 
in  the  air,  and  in  traveling  to  it  on  the  railroad  we  have 
to  go  more  than  twenty-two  miles. 

We  ride  through  banana  fields  and  palm  groves,  then 
climb  the  mountains,  now  turning  this  way,  now  that. 
Now  we  go  over  bridges  with  gorges  below  us  which  are 
man}^  hundred  feet  deep,  and  now  we  shoot  through  tun- 


CARACAS. 


339 


nels,  to  come  out  a^ain  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  with 
the  vast  expanse  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  spread  out  under 
our  eyes. 

The  air  grows  cooler.  The  yellow-fever-Iaden,  tropi- 
cal atmosphere  of  the  coast  has  disappeared,  and  when  at 
last  we  land  in  Caracas  we  are  in  one  of  the  most  health- 
ful climates  of  the  world. 


"We  see  pretty  Spanish  women  looking  out." 

<  The  city  Hes  in  a  beautiful  valley,  about  two  miles  wide 
and  fifteen  miles  long,  surrounded  by  mountains,  some  of 
which  are  two  miles  in  height.  The  valley  is  covered  with 
sugar  plantations,  vegetable  gardens,  coffee  groves,  and 
orchards  of  oranges,  lemons,  and  other  fruit. 

We  are  surprised  at  the  city.     The  streets  are  narrow, 
but  the  sidewalks  are  made  of  Portland  cement,  and  the 


340 


VENEZUELA. 


bright  buildings  facing  them  are  of  all  colors  of  the  rain- 
bow. They  are  nearly  all  of  one  story  and  have  ridge 
roofs  of  red  tile.  Many  of  them  have  windows  facing  the 
street,  heavily  barred,  and  through  the  bars  we  see  pretty 
Spanish  women  looking  out. 

The  streets  cross  one  another  at  right  angles,  with  a 
number  of  plazas  or  parks.      In  one  of  the  parks  there  is 

a  bronze  statue  of 
George  Washing- 
ton, and  in  another 
a  statue  of  Simon 
Bolivar,  the  hero  of 
Venezuela,  and  in 
fact  of  all  South 
America.  He  was 
the  Washington  of 
this  part  of  the 
world.  He  organ- 
ized a  movement 
which  resulted  in 
the  independence  of 
Venezuela,  New 
Granada  or  Colom- 
bia, and  Peru,  and 
he  was  the  founder 
of  Bolivia. 

Later  on  we  visit 
the  Caracas  Univer- 
sity. We  spend  some  time  in  the  Federal  Palace,  and  also 
in  the  Houses  of  Congress,  where  we  learn  that  the  coun- 
try is  governed  in  much  the  same  way  as  our  own. 

At  night  we  go   about  the   streets   under  the  rays  of 
electric  lights.     We  ride  from  one  part  of  the  city  to  an- 


Statue  of  Bolivar. 


CARACAS. 


341 


other  on  street  railways,  and  notice  that  Caracas  has  many 
of  the  modern  improvements.  Many  of  the  young  Vene- 
zuelans we  meet  speak  .English  and  French,  and  we  see 
that  the  better  classes  of  the  people  live  as  comfortably 
as  we  do  at  home.  Some  of  them  have  large  one-story 
houses  composed  of  many  rooms  encircling  courts,  or 
patios,  in  which  grow  great  rose  trees,  curious  varieties  of 
oalms,  and  all  sorts  of  tropical  plants. 


In  a  Garden. 

The  Venezuelans  are  very  hospitable.  They  pride 
themselves  upon  being  one  of  the  most  enterprising  peo- 
ples of  the  South  American  continent,  and  think  their 
country  is  destined  to  be  the  greatest  among  those  of  the 
southern  half  of  our  hemisphere. 

They  are  more  interested  in  the  United  States  than  the 
other  South  Americans.     A  large  part  of  their  trade  is 


342  THE    GUIANAS. 

with  us,  and  there  are  fast  steamships  which  start  every 
few  days  from  La  Guaira  to  New  York.  The  journey 
takes  not  much  more  than  a  week,  and  as  we  stand  on  the 
wharf  and  look  at  the  ships  flying  the  American  flag  we 
feel  inclined  to  jump  on  board  and  go  home. 

There  is,  however,  another  country  left  to  visit.  We 
have  the  Guianas  yet  to  explore.  So  we  take  one  of  the 
little  steamers  which  is  going  east  along  the  coast,  and,  by 
changing  again  at  the  island  of  Trinidad,  get  a  ship  bound 
for  Georgetown,  the  capital  of  British  Guiana. 


3>»4C 


XLIV.     IN    THE    GUIANAS. 

THE  Guianas  are  different  from  the  other  countries  of 
South  America  in  that  they  are  colonies  belonging 
to  nations  of  Europe.  British  Guiana  belongs  to  Great 
Britain,  Dutch  Guiana  is  a  dependency  of  Holland,  and 
French  Guiana  is  the  property  of  France.  All  of  these 
countries  have  governors  appointed  by  the  rulers  of  the 
countries  to  which  they  belong.  None  of  them  have  large 
populations,  and  as  a  whole  they  are  of  little  importance 
in  the  commerce  and  trade  of  the  South  American  conti- 
nent 

Still,  when  South  America  was  discovered  this  region 
was  thought  to  be  one  of  the  richest  of  all.  It  was  a  part 
of  a  country  described  by  the  explorers  as  full  of  gold,  silver, 
and  precious  stones.  One  adventurer  who  skirted  the  Gui- 
anas and  entered  the  Orinoco  told  about  a  city  called  El 
Dorado,  which  had  been  built  in  the  midst  of  a  great  white 
lake,  whose    smallest   house   surpassed   in  grandeur  the 


BRITISH    GUIANA. 


343 


palaces  of  the  Incas  and  Aztecs.  "  In  this  city,"  said  the 
explorer,  "  the  vessels  used  in  the  kitchens  are  of  gold  and 
silver,  studded  with  diamonds.  The  houses  have  statues 
of  solid  gold  as  big  as  giants,  and  there  are  figures  of 
beasts,  birds,  fish,  and  trees,  all  of  gold.  The  pleasure 
gardens  of  the  islands  are  filled  with  figures  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  the  king  of  the  country  and  his  court  wear 
clothes  of  such  a  nature  that  they  seem  to  be  sprinkled 
with  gold  and  silver  from  sandal  to  crown." 


The  descriptions  of  this  wonderful  city  excited  all  Eu- 
rope, and  expeditions  were  formed  to  explore  this  part 
of  the  world.  Great  numbers  of  young  men  left  Europe 
for  this  purpose,  expecting  to  make  fortunes,  and  in  look- 
ing for  the  fabulous  city  they  explored  the  greater  part  of 
northern  South  America,  penetrating  to  the  sources  of  the 
Orinoco,  entering  the  Amazon  and  the  rivers  which  flow 
out  into  the  Atlantic  through  the  Guianas. 

It  was  from  the  expedition  led  or  sent  by  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  that  Great  Britain  became  possessed  of  British 
Guiana,  and  it  is  said  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  presented  to 
Queen  Elizabeth  some  gold  nuggets  and  rude  images  of 
solid  gold  as  an  evidence  of  the  value  of  his  discovery. 


344  THE    GUIANAS. 

Gold  really  exists  along  the  Orinoco,  the  Essequibo,  and 
in  some  of  the  streams  of  French  and  Dutch  Guiana.  It 
has  not  been  discovered  in  the  Guianas,  however,  in  very- 
large  quantities,  and  the  wonderful  city  of  El  Dorado,  with 
its  gold  and  diamond  kitchen  utensils,  is  yet  to  be  found. 

The  land  of  the  Guianas  is  of  a  curious  formation.  It 
is  a  body  of  highlands,  sloping  down  at  its  outer  edges 
toward  the  basin  of  the  Orinoco  and  that  of  the  Amazon 
in  such  a  way  that  if  the  country  were  dropped  down  a 
few  hundred  feet  the  water  of  the  sea  would  rush  in  and 
the  Guianas  would  be  a  large  island. 

The  exact  extent  of  the  territory  is  not  known.  French 
Guiana  claims  a  part  of  Brazil,  and  British  Guiana  has  for 
a  long  time  contended  that  much  of  Venezuela  should 
rightly  belong  to  it.  At  the  lowest  estimate,  however, 
each  of  the  three  countries  is  as  large  as  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  they  all  contain  some  excellent  land. 

The  climate  of  most  parts  is  very  unhealthful.  It  is 
exceedingly  hot,  and  the  highlands  are  covered  with  for- 
ests as  dense  as  the  wildest  parts  of  the  Amazon.  Here 
and  there  are  great  grassy  plains,  upon  which  cattle  might 
be  fed,  and  upon  the  lowlands  near  the  coast  are  many 
places  which  grow  sugar,  coffee,  and  cotton. 

But  what  kind  of  people  are  there  in  these  countries? 
We  shall  see  the  civilized  population  of  the  coast  cities. 
The  majority  of  the  inhabitants,  however,  live  in  the  wilds. 
They  are  savage  Indians  and  savage  negroes,  the  descend- 
ants of  runaway  slaves.  The  Indians  are  of  many  tribes, 
and  they  have  very  strange  customs, 
^^he  Arawaks,  according  to  report,  have  a  game  called 
the  whip  dance,  in  which  the  dancers  stand  in  two  rows 
opposite  each  other.  Each  one  has  a  whip  with  a  hard, 
strong  lash  made  of  fiber.     With  these  they  whip  the 


BRITISH    GUIANA.  345 

naked  calves  of  each  other's  legs,  often  thrashing  each 
other  until  their  legs  are  covered  with  blood.  The  dance 
is  looked  upon  as  a  test  of  endurance  and  bravery,  and  the 
man  who  can  stand  the  most  whipping  is  considered  the 
best.  The  game  goes  on,  it  is  said,  with  perfect  good 
temper,  and  at  its  close  the  dancers  go  off  in  a  band  and 
drink  one  another's  health. 

The  people  of  another  tribe  of  Indians  wear  nothing  but 
a  strip  of  cloth  about  their  waists.  They  are,  however, 
fond  of  jewelry,  and  pierce  their  lower  lips  in  such  a  way 
that  two  pins  can  be  worn  in  them.  They  also  have  pins 
in  their  nostrils,  and  deck  their  necks  and  arms  with  such 
beads  and  coins  as  they  can  pick  up. 

The  Indians  are  of  many  tribes.  Some  of  them  paint 
their  bodies,  wear  bits  of  bone  in  their  lips,  and  cause  their 
calves  to  swell  by  means  of  garters  tightly  clasped  below 
the  knee. 

There  are  other  strange  Indians  who  are  said  to  have 
light  complexions,  with  blue  eyes  and  Hght  beards,  and 
rumor  gives  it  that  there  is  a  fairy  race  in  these  regions 
which  all  other  Indians  dread.  Most  of  these  reports  come 
from  hearsay,  and  some  of  them,  like  the  story  of  the  gold 
city  of  El  Dorado,  may  not  be  true.  We  have  not  the 
time  required  to  make  such  explorations  ourselves,  and  so 
shall  leave  the  exact  nature  of  the  Indians  in  doubt,  say- 
ing we  suppose  that  they  may  be  as  reported,  but  we 
really  do  not  know. 

There  is  no  doubt,  however,  about  there  being  many 
black  people  in  the  Guianas.  We  shall  see  civilized  negroes 
everywhere.  Slaves  were  imported  for  generations  to 
work  on  the  sugar  plantations,  and  to  get  the  fine  woods 
out  of  the  forests  and  put  them  on  the  ships  for  Europe. 
After  slavery  was  abolished  many  of  the  negroes  settled 


346 


THE    GUIANAS. 


on  the  coast  lands  where  they  had  been  toiHng.  We  see 
their  thatched  huts  everywhere.  They  are  now  farmers. 
Other  negroes  went  off  to  the  woods  and  formed  tribes 
of  bush  negroes,  intermarrying  with  the  Indians.  The 
bush  negroes  have  a  language  which  is  a  mixture  of  Dutch, 
French,  and  English,  combined  with  Indian  and  African 
words.  Some  of  the  wild  negroes  are  very  brave,  many 
being  strong  and  fine-looking. 


"  We  see  their  thatched  huts  everywhere." 


But  here  we  are  at  the  wharf  of  Georgetown.  We  have 
sailed  up  a  little  river,  the  banks  of  which  are  lined  with 
tropical  vegetatfon,  with  sugar  estates  cut  out  of  the  jun- 
gle. We  see  many  cocoanut  palms,  clumps  of  bamboos, 
and  great  trees  covered  with  flowers. 

What  a  queer  crowd  is  that  on  the  wharf !     We  rub  our 


BRITISH    GUIANA. 


347 


eyes  and  wonder  if  we  are  not  in  Asia  rather  than  in  South 
America.  There  are  scores  of  almond-eyed  Chinese  with 
their  hair  hanging  in  long  tails  down  their  backs.  There 
are  black  Hindoos  in  turbans  and  strange  garments,  and 
there  are  Parsees  wearing  long  black  coats  and  hats  like 
inverted  coal  scuttles.  There  are  numerous  Portuguese, 
and  English  merchants  who  have  come  to  the  steamer. 
The  most  of  the  Hindoos  and  Chinese  were  imported  to 
work  on  the  sugar  plantations,  and  we  find  them  scattered 
everywhere  throughout  the  coast  countries. 


"There  are  black  Hindoos  in  turbans  and  strange  garments.' 


How  queer  Georgetown  looks  after  our  long  stay  in  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  cities  of  other  parts  of  the  conti- 
nent! It  is  more  like  a  city  of  Holland  than  Spain.  The 
roofs  are  slanting,  and  the  walls  of  most  of  the  houses  are 
of  wood  or  galvanized  iron.     Many  of  the  houses  are  tall, 


34^  THE    GUIANAS. 

built  with  gable  ends  facing  the  street.  Near  every  house 
is  a  great  iron  tank.  This  is  to  catch  the  rain  water  which 
is  used  for  drinking,  for  it  is  better  than  that  which  comes 
from  the  springs  near  the  city. 

Georgetown  has  about  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  and 
it  has  some  large  buildings.  The  city  lies  on  low  land, 
and  the  large  buildings  stand  upon  wooden  piles  which 
have  been  driven  down  into  the  mud  to  form  the  founda- 
tions. In  many  of  the  streets  run  canals,  which  serve 
to  drain  the  water  out  into  the  river  in  times  of  flood. 

The. city  has  many  modern  improvements.  We  enjoy 
visiting  the  stores,  for  the  merchants  speak  EngHsh, 
and  we  take  the  tramway  and  ride  out  to  the  suburbs, 
where  the  houses  stand  by  themselves  in  beautiful  gardens 
filled  with  tropical  plants. 

The  sugar  plantations  are  interesting.  Many  of  them 
are  large,  employing  hundreds  of  laborers  and  making 
thousands  of  tons  of  sugar  each  season.  Each  has  its 
manager  and  overseers,  and  its  books  are  kept  as  carefully 
as  those  of  our  great  business  establishments. 

The  land  of  the  Guiana  coast  is  so  rich  that  the  sugar 
cane  can  be  cut  several  times  a  year,  and  it  is  said  that  it 
will  grow  up  for  sixty  years  in  succession  without  being 
replanted.  The  soil  is  composed  of  earth  washings  brought 
down  by  the  rivers  from  the  mountains,  soil  so  rich  that 
it  will  grow  everything  produced  in  the  tropics.  Great 
quantities  of  dirt  are  brought  during  the  floods,  which  are 
so  great  that  dikes  have  to  be  erected  to  keep  the  land 
from  washing  into  the  sea.  The  building  of  these  dikes 
is  very  expensive,  and  so  the  sugar  plantations  are  nearly 
all  owned  by  men  and  companies  having  large  capital. 

We  find  more  sugar  plantations  near  Paramaribo,  the 
capital  of  Dutch  Guiana,  which  we  reach  in  a  little  Dutch 


DUTCH    GUIANA. 


349 


ship  from  Georgetown.      Paramaribo  lies  about  twenty 

miles  up  the  Surinam  river.      It  has  about  thirty  thousand 

inhabitants,  and  in  its 

architecture     and     the 

waterways  and  houses 

it  is  not  unlike  the  cities 

of  Holland. 

Many  of  the  people 
speak  Dutch,  a  lan- 
guage which  sounds 
very  queer  to  us  when 
it  comes  from  the  ne- 
groes we  see  every- 
where. There  are  also 
many  whites  and  mu- 
lattoes.  There  are  also 
black-skinned  Javanese 
who  have  come  to  work 
in  the  sugar  plantations. 
The  better  classes  are 
dressed  in  light  clothes, 
the  women  wearing  stiff 
skirts,  loose  jackets, 
and  head-dresses  not 
unlike  turbans.  The  poorer  people  go  barefooted,  and 
many  of  the  children  wear  no  clothing  whatever. 

From  Paramaribo  we  steam  to  Cayenne,  the  capital  of 
French  Guiana.  The  city  is  smaller  than  either  George- 
town or  Paramaribo.  It  contains  about  twelve  thousand 
inhabitants,  but  it  looks  quite  large  from  the  ship,  with  a 
grove  of  palm  trees  behind  it  and  a  high  church  steeple 
rising  above  the  rest  of  the  houses. 

It  is  built  upon  an  island  about  thirty  miles  in  circum- 

CARP.  S.  AM. — 22 


Cayenne  Creole. 


350 


THE    GUIANAS. 


ference,  a  narrow  strait  separating  it  from  the  mainland. 
We  find  the  town  interesting.  The  most  of  its  houses 
are  of  two  stories,  some  of  them  being  covered  with  plas- 
ter which  is  painted  all  colors  of  the  rainbow. 

The  land  is  not  much  different  from  that  of  the  other 
Guianas,  and  the  people  are  much  the  same.     We  see. 


In  Cayenne. 

however,  many  hard  faces  among  them.  French  Guiana 
has  for  years  been  a  penal  colony,  to  which  thieves  and 
other  criminals  have  been  exported  from  France. 

Its  climate  is  not  healthful,  and  it  is  indeed  not  a  place 
where  any  traveler  would  care  to  stay  long.  We  are  glad 
when  the  steamer  arrives  on  which  we  can  go  back  to 
Trinidad  Island,  and  thence,  having  finished  our  long  tour 
of  the  South  American  continent,  take  ship  for  New  York. 


INDEX, 


Aconcagua,  Mount,  73,  82,  122. 

Alpacas,  76. 

Amazon,  299-327. 

Andes,  mines  of,  95—100, 

Andes,  in  Colombia,  19,  32  ;  Ecuador, 

44-46,    50 ;    Peru,    67-80 ;  ■  Chile, 

119-122. 
Ant  cities,  228. 
Argentina,  167-200. 
Armadillo,  199. 
Asuncion,  219-225. 

Bahia,  283-290. 

Balboa,   Vasco    Nunez,   discovery    of 

Pacific  Ocean,  17. 
Bananas,  24,  258. 
Beef,  dried,  208,  329. 
Beef  extract  factories,  Uruguay,  208. 
Bodegas,  42,  43. 
Bogota,  5:>-37. 
Bolivar,  Simon,  340. 
Bolivia,  87-100. 
Borax,  loi. 
Brazil,  243-327. 
Brazil  nur,  323. 
Buenos  Aires,  192-200. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  211. 

Cacao,  or  chocolate,  32-34,  324,  336. 

Canal,  Panama,  18,  20. 

Cape  Pilar,  157. 

Caracas,  338-341. 

Carbons,  290. 

Cauca,  river  and  valley,  32-34. 

Cayenne,  349. 

Ceara,  Brazil,  295. 

Chile,  100-167. 

Chocolate.     See  Cacao. 

Chuno,  how  made,  81. 

Cinchona,  92. 


Cinnamon  trees,  279. 

Ciudad  Bolivar,  2>2>'^Z7>Z' 

Coal  mines  of  Chile,  144-148. 

Coca,  93. 

Cocoanuts,  how  grown,  23,  26. 

Coffee,  252,  257-267,  271-274,  336. 

Colombia,  16-38. 

Colon,  Isthmus  of  Panama,  20-22. 

Commerce  on  Lake  Titicaca,  84,  85. 

Concepcion,  144. 

Cordova,    185. 

Cuyaba,  Brazil,  247. 

Cuzco,  77. 

Desaguadero,  river  of,  83. 

Desert,  Great  South  American,  50-54 

no. 
Diamonds,  288-290. 

l^arth  building  in  the  Parana,  213. 
Ecuador,  38-50. 
El  Dorado,  342. 

Farming,  in  Argentina,  182-190  ;  Bra- 
zil, 294 ;  Chile,  130 ;  Paraguay,  226 ; 
Peru,  53-55. 

Gauchos,  the  cowboys  of  the  pampas, 

179. 
Georgetown,  347. 

Germans  in  southern  Brazil,  251,  252. 
Gold  mining,  95,  96,  163,  248. 
Guanacos,  169, 
Guano,  106. 
Guayaquil,  38-42. 
Guayas  river,  38,  42. 
Guianas,  342-350. 
Gulf  Stream,  14. 


Honda,  Colombia,  35. 
Horses  in  Argentina,  179. 


352 


INDEX. 


Iguana  lizard,  27. 

Incas,  the,  77,  78. 

Indians,  Alacalufes,  154-156;  Arau- 
canians,  137-144;  Ecuador,  49; 
Guiana,  344;  Peruvian,  69;  Qui- 
chua  and  Aymara,  78-80;  Onas, 
165  ;  Paraguay,  237 ;  Yaghans,  167 ; 
Venezuela,  334,  335. 

Ipecac,  248. 

Iquique,  102. 

Llamas,  75,  76. 
Llanos,  328,  329. 
La  Paz,  87-92. 
Lima,  58-66. 
Locusts,  188,  189. 

Magdalena  river,  35. 
Magellan,  Strait  of,  149,  1 51-167. 
Manaos,  325-327. 
Manioc,  how  raised,  225. 
Mate,  or  Paraguay  tea,  234. 
Matto  Grosso,  Brazil,  242,  249. 
Montevideo,  203-208. 
Mountain  sickness,  71. 

Negroes,  in  Brazil,  285-287;  in  the 

Guianas,  345,  346. 
Nitrate  of  soda,  101-105. 

Obidos,  324. 

Oranges  in  Paraguay,  23 1. 
Orinoco  river,  327-334. 
Oroya  Railroad,  67. 
Ostriches,  170. 

Palms,     ivory,     25 ;     cocoanut,    26 ; 

royal,  278;  carnauba,  298. 
Pampas,  109-174. 
Panama,  28. 

Panama,  I^hmus  of,  16-29. 
Panama  Canal,  18,  20. 
Panama  Railroad,  24. 
Para,  305-312. 
Paraguay,  217-249. 
Paraguay  river,  216,  233-248. 
Paramaribo,  349. 
Parana  river,  212-216. 
Parrots,  298. 
Passport,  II,  12. 
Patagonia,  167. 
Peccary,  24a 


Pernambuco,  291. 

Peru,  50-86. 

Petropolis,  282. 

Pizarro,  58. 

Plateau  of  Peru,  72-80. 

Poopo,  Lake,  8^. 

Potatoes,  81. 

Punta  Arenas,  159-162. 

Quinine,  92. 
Quinua,  74. 
Quito,  47. 

Railroads,  Brazil,  254,  267,  281 ;  Peru, 

67 ;  ^Transandine,  1 15-122,  169. 
Recife,  291. 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  267-280. 
Rio  de  la  Plata,  208. 
Rio  Negro,  Brazil,  325. 
Rosario,  191. 

Rotos,  or  Chilean  workmen,  135. 
Rubber,  312-320. 

San  Salvador,  15. 

Santiago,  123-130. 

Santos,  252,  253. 

Sao  Paulo,  255. 

Sheep  freezing,  176. 

Sheep  raising,  164,  174. 

Silver,  97,  108. 

Smythes  Channel,  151. 

Spaniards  in  South  America,  57,  58, 

Stock  raising  in  Argentina,  177. 
Sugar  cane,  54,  183,  348. 

Tapir,  241. 

Tierra  del  Fuego,  162-167. 

Tin,  99. 

Titicaca,  Lake,  81-86. 

Turtles,  311,  312. 

Uruguay,  201-208. 

Valparaiso,  109,  II2. 
Venezuela,  327-342. 
Vicuiia,  76. 
Vineyards,  184. 
Vultures,  310. 

Wheat  in  Argentina,  187-192. 
Wool,  197.     See  also  SAeep, 


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